Managing and Caring for the Self

Topic 1: Learning to be a Better Student

A. What happens during learning?
- LEARNING is defined as a relatively permanent change in behavior that results from experience. It is an
essential process for human beings, for preservation and continuation of cultures, and for the success of
educational systems.
- Learning is a social activity. The information that we gather is often produced by our social environment
and is interpreted by the lens that we have developed from constant exposure and interaction with others.
We learn when we actively engage with our environment and with ourselves.

B. Brain and Behavior Changes: NEUROPLASTICITY

- The scientific community regarded the brain then as a static organ— that it does not change. The
common consensus today is that the brain, and its inner workings, are constantly changing and being
reorganized as a function of experience.
- Neuroplasticity basically is the process where the brain rewires itself to accommodate the new information
and knowledge one gains through learning. The more stimulation the brain receives from sensory input and
information processing, the more plastic the brain becomes. The stimulation may come in various forms such
as memory, addiction, maturation, recovery, and learning.

C. Metacognition: Being a Strategic Learner

- METACOGNITION are the processes used to plan, monitor, and assess one’s understanding and
performance; simply put, it is thinking about one’s thinking. It involves awareness of how they learn, an
evaluation of their learning needs, generating strategies to meet these needs and then implementing the
strategies. Think of metacognition as studying techniques or learning habits.
Studying Techniques (Dunlosky et al. (2013))
Elaborative interrogation - Generating an explanation for why an explicitly stated fact or concept is true
Self Explanation - Explaining how new information is related to known information, or explaining steps taken
during problem solving
Summarization - Writing summaries (of various lengths) of to-be-learned texts
Highlighting/ Underlining - Marking potentially important portions of to-be-learned materials while reading
Keyword Mnemonic - Using keywords and mental imagery to associate verbal materials
Imagery for text - Attempting to form mental images of text materials while reading or listening
Rereading - Restudying text material again after an initial reading
Practice Testing - Self-testing or taking practice tests over to-be-learned material
Distributed Practice - Implementing a schedule of practice that spreads out study activities over time
Interleaved Practice - Implementing a schedule of practice that mixes different kinds of problems, or a
schedule of study.

D. Becoming a Self-Regulated Learner

SELF-REGULATION is the self-directive process where learners turn the knowledge that they have
gained into tangible academic skills. Self regulated learning happens in a proactive manner; that the
activity is anticipated before the actual process takes place rather than coming up with plans as soon as
learning takes place.

Setting Goals for Success

Albert Bandura and the Theory of Self Efficacy

SELF-EFFICACY is rooted on the core belief that a person can effectuate change through their actions; that
belief in one’s capabilities plays a major role in how one behaves. People would want to avoid situations where
they think they are not capable of engaging with but perform with assurance activities that they see themselves
capable of handling. One’s beliefs about efficacy come from four ways principal sources: mastery experiences,
social modeling, social persuasion, and physiological and emotional states.

Mastery experiences arise from the constant trial-and-error a person faces. The development of resilient self-
efficacy requires experiences and perseverance in overcoming obstacles.

Social modeling happens by observing other individuals or groups perform their activities successfully. This
gives the individual an idea on how to execute the task successfully. This is also called vicarious learning.
Social persuasion happens when one sees a person of similar state execute activities successfully.

Person’s physiological and emotional states where the individual’s physiological or emotional states
influence self-efficacy judgments concerning specific tasks. Emotional reactions to such tasks can lead to
either positive or negative judgments of one’s ability to complete the tasks.

Edwin Locke and the Goal Setting Theory

GOAL SETING is the development of a plan designed to motivate and guide individuals towards a goal.
Locke’s theory recognized that everyone has different performance goals. It also noted that goals that are
difficult, specific, and have a time constraint are more likely to be achieved with positive results.

Four Components of Locke’s Theory of Motivation

Needs are the innate objective requirements of an organism in order to survive.

Values are the acquired subjective regards of an individual that would positively affect their welfare. Values
have a hierarchy that enables people to make choices based on what they prioritize most.

Goals are more specific form and the physical manifestation of values.

Emotions are automatized subconscious value judgements that reflect subconscious knowledge, values, and
values hierarchy.

Five Principles for Effective Goal Setting

Challenge—having a balanced difficult task aids in motivating the individual;

Clarity—having a well defined goal will aid in creating a well-thought plan to achieve the goal;

Feedback—regular checks on the work progress ensures that all the effort is in line to achieve the goal;

Commitment—people setting goals must be able to provide ample time and energy to achieve the goal; and

Task Complexity—goals must me manageable as to not overwhelm the person.

Taking Care of One’s Health.

A. Stressors and responses

- STRESS is the experience of a perceived threat (real or imagined) to one’s mental, physical, or spiritual well-
being, resulting from series of physiological responses and adaptation. Normally the body needs a certain level
of stress to function, or our bodily functions will slowly degrade from misuse, but sometimes stress levels can
go beyond the acceptable threshold and interfere with a person’s daily living.

- One’s current socioeconomic status can be a major stressor. Being financially insecure can be a source of
stress since you worry about getting sick and the cost of treatment. In some cases, the culture where we are
situated in can be the stressor.

- Most of the time, our body’s response to stress is physiological; it manifests in physical symptoms such as
constipation, cold and sweaty hands, a racing heart rate. That is the body’s fight, flight, or freeze system being
activated and is a normal reaction. Constant exposure to stress and the constant triggering of this system can
lead to serious health problems in the future such as hypertension, insomnia, and even diabetes.

- With the slow but opening discussion about mental health, a lot of us now see the psychological effects of
stress most especially to our mental health. Unhealthy amounts of stress have led to people develop mental
disorders that hinder themselves from living a normal daily life.Many of these individuals do not even realize
that they have developed mental disorders because of the stigma and the patchy mental health system of the
Philippines.

B. Stress and the Filipino Culture

- Culture plays a key role to how Filipinos experience stress. Filipinos are known for their strong familial ties
and this can be a source of stress for a lot of people.

- Overseas Filipinos who toil to send their wages for their family who lavishly spends his or her hard earned
wages.

- How do we Filipinos respond to stress? We look for more stimulation. A lot of those that have difficulty coping
with stress just keep it within them until it consumes them. We do not talk about mental conditions else we risk
being labeled baliw and the topic shunned away for something more mundane or happier. Others, especially
those who cannot afford hard-to-reach psychological services and cannot afford to leave their stressful
environment resort to lull themselves with drugs until they resort to violence when they reach the end of the
line.

-This is the sad reality that we face when coping with stress. The very institutions that should be there to help
us Filipinos cope are either very underfunded or do not even exist at all.

C. Sources of Coping and Strength

- Try to establish a core. Your core will act as a source of strength to cope with the challenges you face. A
proper core will drive you to pursue greatness and happiness for the people that you care about. Your core can
either be your parents, your pets, or your goals. A good way to start identifying how to establish a core is
asking the question:―Para kanino ka bumabangon?

- Do not be too hard on yourself. We are all human at the end of the day, and we have limits. When you feel
that you are being overwhelmed by the stressors around you, extract yourself out of the situation or remove the
stressor out of your area. Try to relax and do some of your past-time activities of hobbies—cooking, gardening,
playing video games, or any intimate activities.
D. The need for self-care and compassion

- You may have already heard of self-care, usually it is guised as ―treating yourself‖ or ―reward‖ or
―Shopee Free Shipping‖, but there is more to self-care than the materialistic ways we satisfy ourselves.

SELF-CARE is an active and powerful choice to do activities that help you gain or maintain your overall
health. Remember that activities for self-care should encompass all aspects of a human being: physical,
psychological, social, and spiritual aspects. It should not cater to fulfill only one aspect. Here is the trick
question, when do we know that what we do for self-care is working?

SELF-COMPASSION is allowing yourself to experience kindness, warmth, care, and understanding when
faced with shortcomings or failures. It creates a natural desire to relieve suffering from yourself. Self-
compassion has three components: self kindness, sense of common humanity, and mindfulness

- Common humanity recognizes that imperfection and difficulties are a normal and unavoidable part of living.
As social animals, we have this tendency to compare our progress to others. We must remember that the
feelings that you have after a failure is valid and is a shared feeling that all of humanity is familiar of.

- Self-kindness recognizes that sometimes we do not get what we want, or things do not turn out the way we
planned them to be. It helps lessen the barbs of self-loathing that comes with failing.

- Mindfulness is a nonjudgmental, receptive mind-state where thoughts and feelings are observed as they are
—no filters, no suppression, no denying of their existence. We do not have to devote energy and time to sulk
on the negative expressions and feelings that come with failure as it narrows our focus and exaggerates
implications for self-worth.

Note that..

- Self-compassion is not:

self-pity—immersing oneself in their own problems and not recognizing that others have similar problems;

self-indulgence—unrestrained self-gratification of one’s appetite, desires, or whims; - self-esteem—the degree

which we evaluate or value ourselves positively compared to others.