SELF-AWARENESS

THE JOHARI WINDOW

The Johari Window was developed by two American Psychologists Joseph Luft and Harry
Ingham in 1950. It is a very simple tool used for self awareness, personal development, group
development, and understanding relationships. It represents information about the views,
feelings, emotions, attitudes, skills, motivation, etc. The model of the Johari Window comprises
of four quadrants, each representing information related to feelings, attitudes, views,
motivation, skills, etc. with respect to the ‘Self’ and ‘Others’. It can be represented as:

SELF

Known Unknown

Known 1. 2

OPEN BLIND

OTHERS

Unknown 3 4

PRIVATE DARK
In the figure above, each quadrant is of the same size but usually it differs according to the
person’s knowledge about himself. Each of the four areas/quadrants is either known or
unknown to Self or Others. The description of these areas is as follows:

1. OPEN AREA: This area contains the information about a person that is known to him as
well as known to others also. This area is also known as the area of free activity since all
the open communication, cooperation occurs. It is free from confusion, mistrust, conflict
and understanding. This area determines the effectiveness of a person in a group.
2. BLIND AREA: This area contains the information about a person that is unknown to him
but known to others. It is not an effective area since the person is ignorant about this
information while others know it. Also, others may deliberately withhold and do not
share the information with him, and may take undue advantage of it later.
3. PRIVATE AREA: This area contains the information about a person that is known only to
him and unknown to others. It also includes sensitivities, fears, hidden plans,
manipulative intentions, secrets, etc. However, if all the information is kept secret for a
long time, it makes the person lonely and less effective in a group.
4. DARK AREA: This area contains the information about a person that is unknown to him
as well as to others. This area may include hidden abilities, undiscovered talents,
unidentified feelings, aptitudes, experiences, etc. With the help of counseling, self-
discovery and observation by others and self, this information can be obtained.

In order to be effective, one needs to develop his Open area. Two things that play a very
important role in this are:
1. Self Disclosure: Disclosing about one, sharing some experiences, and expressing oneself
helps us reduce the private area. The more we share or express the more
communication and cooperation takes place. And this leads to a healthy development of
the open area. However, excessive self disclosure is also harmful as then others may
take disadvantage of it.

2. Openness to feedback: This refers to being open not only the positive feedback but also
the negative feedback we get from others about us. Asking for a feedback may help in
reducing the blind area, since people share what they think about us, and due to this
our open area increases. Also, we should be careful while giving a feedback to others. A
feedback should not be critical but should be suggestive. It should not be based on
events or observations of the past; it should be about recent events with which others
can relate. Also, feedback should always start with a word of appreciation and if a
negative feedback has to be given then it should be carefully said and should be
justified.

Application of Johari Window

Johari window is a beautiful concept which helps us in exploring the answer of many riddles of
life. According to it whatever happens in our life depends upon how much we are actually
aware of our inner being and at the same time how much others know about it in a true sense.
The concept says that at a given point of time in life, we may see our total being as we
understand it and as others know about it in a true sense through the Johari Window.

The important clues which this window gives to us are:

 Our OPEN area leads to success and happiness in life. If a person knows that he is good
in listening to others and understanding them and others also know about it, they will
have more faith in him and he is likely to get good success in his interpersonal relations.
 Our PRIVATE area is very important and personal but sometimes makes us
uncomfortable. If it is something positive, it is in closed area either because of our
hesitation or inertia or because we did not spend enough time on it to strengthen it
further. If a person has got good stamina but he never works hard, it is of no use. There
are some aspects within our closed area which denote our fears and reduce our
trustworthiness. However, when we collect the courage of bringing our weaknesses in
open and start working to overcome them, they become our strengths. Thus, this area
should be regulated with caution.
 There are certain things which others understand about us but we do not realize;
which is BLIND. If they are positive, they are of no use unless we know about them. If
they are negative, they reduce our respectability and make us vulnerable to
unannounced problems which we may have to encounter without being prepared to
face them.
 The most important aspects of life are hidden in the DARK which neither we realize nor
others understand them. Our deep rooted fears or our deeply buried talents lie in the
Dark area. We realize them when we face a big challenge. At times, we feel highly
confident of ourselves after successfully facing a tough situation because we then realize
that we can exercise patience or we have the ability to work hard or to learn new skills
more than we ever thought earlier.

The most important clue which JOHARI WINDOW gives is that the more developed our OPEN
area, the more comfortable and successful we are likely to be in life. We should constantly work
to enlarge our OPEN area by way of:

 strengthening our qualities and putting them in positive use,

 being more introspective and open to self-assessment,
 overcoming our weaknesses, and
 accept various types of challenges in life for realizing our deeply hidden qualities and for
winning over our deep rooted fears.

PLANNING
 Academic Co-Curricular Extra-Curricular

Short Term Planning

Long Term Planning

Academic is related to student’s marks, grade. Overall performance is counted in all the
educational activities.

Co- curricular activities are related to academic. It includes attending conferences, paper
presentation, any form of applications of classroom teaching or theory.

Extra-Curricular activities are related to hobbies and interests. They are stress relieving as well
as entertaining. It helps to enrich one’s personality

Planning - Sometimes goals and objectives are used as synonyms, but goals are considered as
long term and objectives are known as short term.
Long term planning needs to select priorities and goals. It needs to estimate the expected time
frame for achievement. It also requires planning each intermediate step in such a manner that
every step leads towards one’s coveted goal. Being ever watchful for any unexpected events
and to take timely and corrective measures to achieve expected results is also very essential in
long term planning.

Short term planning helps to achieve objectives in a long-term planning.

Extempore planning is required in sudden or in unexpected situations. Usually, person needs

to change his ways or time frame in achieving goals.

Locus of Control

• A dimension of personality that explains the degree to which people believe that they,
rather than external forces, determine their own lives.

(Rotter)

• Internal loc-the tendency to believe that events result primarily from one’s own
behavior and actions.

• Have better control of their behavior.

• More active in seeking knowledge and information

 • More likely to assume that their efforts will be successful

• Likely to have Stronger self esteem and to develop healthier life style

• Likely to perform better on jobs with that requires initiative and offer autonomy.

Tend to have a stronger sense of psychological well – being.

• External loc believe that powerful others , fate or chance primarily determine events.

• Tend to be more anxious.

• Likely to seek structured jobs with clean directions

Students

• High in external loc believe they have little control over their final grades, less likely to
assume their responsibility for their course performance than internals and are more
prone than internals to blaming their teachers for their grades.

NEEDS & SELF

Needs and its importance; Creating goals and managing needs to systematical actualization
Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory in psychology comprising a
eight-tier model of human needs, often depicted as hierarchical levels within a pyramid.

1. Biological and physiological needs - air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep, etc.

2. Safety needs - protection from elements, security, order, law, stability, freedom from fear.

3. Love and belongingness needs - friendship, intimacy, trust, and acceptance, receiving and
giving affection and love. Affiliating, being part of a group (family, friends, work).

4. Esteem needs - which Maslow classified into two categories: (i) esteem for oneself (dignity,
achievement, mastery, and independence) (ii) the desire for reputation or respect from others
(e.g., status, prestige).

5. Cognitive needs - knowledge and understanding, curiosity, exploration, need for meaning
and predictability.

6. Aesthetic needs - appreciation and search for beauty, balance, form, etc.

7. Self-actualization needs - realizing personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal

growth and peak experiences. A desire “to become everything one is capable of becoming”

8. Transcendence needs - A person is motivated by values which transcend beyond the personal
self (e.g., mystical experiences and certain experiences with nature, aesthetic experiences,
sexual experiences, service to others, the pursuit of science, religious faith, etc.).

ETHICS & VALUES

Professional ethics and their importance for students; Understanding the importance of values
& their application in everyday life.

What is a value?
Values are those inner standards from which you receive the motivation to act as you do and by
which you judge behavior (both yours and others).
Values signify what is important and worthwhile. They serve as the basis for moral codes and
ethical reflection. Individuals have their own values based on many aspects including family,
religion, peers, culture, race, social background, gender, etc. Values guide individuals,
professions, communities, and institutions.

1. A value must be chosen freely. If you don’t cheat because someone tells you not to, or
because you know you will get into trouble with some authority figure, say, you are not
freely acting on your values of honesty and integrity.
2. A value is always chosen from among alternatives. If you don’t cheat because you are taking
a test in an empty room without any resources, you cannot say you chose not to cheat.
There must always be an alternative in choosing your value.

3. A value results from a choice made after thoughtful consideration of choices. If you don’t
cheat because it never occurred to you to do otherwise, there is no value at play. If you
cheat thoughtlessly or carelessly, it does not reflect a value. Only when you carefully
consider alternatives and consequences and then make a choice is value reflected in that
decision.

4. When you value something, it has a positive quality for you. If your decision not to cheat is
something you feel good about, then it is based on a value. You like yourself for your
honesty and integrity. You prize them and cherish these qualities in yourself.

5. You are willing to publicly stand by your values. Not only are you proud of your choice not to
cheat, you will speak about your position and even try to convince others not to cheat. You
declare in your actions and your words that you value honesty and integrity.

6. When you have a value, it shows up in every aspect of your life. You don’t just talk about
having honesty and integrity – you live it. You will spend time and energy on developing your
honesty and integrity. You will associate with people who also value honesty and integrity.
You will make sacrifices (money or otherwise) to live by your values.
7. Values show up again and again in your actions. Not cheating on one thing does
not mean you hold a value. Only when you make the same kind of choices over.
and over again in similar circumstances is value at play. Because of your
honesty and integrity, you don’t cheat on anything. From small quizzes to big
tests, from board games to big contests, your value is in effect in every circumstance.

Core Values

• Right conduct:

• Self-help skills

• Social skills

• Ethical skills

• Peace: Attention, calmness, concentration, contentment, dignity, discipline, equality,

equanimity, faithfulness, focus, gratitude, happiness, harmony, humility, inner silence,
optimism, patience, reflection, satisfaction, self-acceptance, self-confidence, self-
control, self-discipline, self-esteem, self-respect, sense control, tolerance, and
understanding
• Truth: Accuracy, curiosity, discernment, fairness, fearlessness, honesty, integrity (unity
of thought, word, and deed), intuition, justice, optimism, purity, quest for knowledge,
reason, self-analysis, sincerity, sprit of enquiry, synthesis, trust, truthfulness, and
determination.

• Love: Acceptance, affection, care, compassion, consideration, dedication, devotion,

empathy, forbearance, forgiveness, friendship, generosity, gentleness, humanness,
interdependence, kindness, patience, patriotism, reverence, sacrifice, selflessness,
service, sharing, sympathy, thoughtfulness, tolerance and trust

• Non-violence:

• Psychological- Benevolence, compassion, concern for others, consideration,

forbearance, forgiveness, manners, happiness, loyalty, morality, and universal
love

• Social- Appreciation of other cultures and religions, brotherhood, care of

environment, citizenship, equality, harmlessness, national awareness,
perseverance, respect for property, and social justice.