Know

当我们思考我们的生活时，我们倾向于对我们作为一个人是谁以及我们在一个特定的角色中是谁（例如，作为一个家庭的成员，作为一个工人，等等）有一些想法或问题。花点时间写下一些描述你是什么样的人的单词或短语。

How did you describe yourself? Funny? Smart? Emotional? Energetic? Tall? Brown-eyed? Some of your responses likely reflect personality traits and some may be physical traits. You may have responded with reference to the many roles you assume in a day, such as mother or father, daughter or son, provider, friend, community member. Your interactions with other individuals may also shape how you define yourself.Allof your descriptions offer a window into your sense of self.

本课程将帮助您更好地了解自我的概念以及如何与您自己的能力，自信和福祉相关。本课程还可以帮助您了解儿童的自我发展感，以及作为家庭幼儿提供者的意思。万博体育下载官方网站

什么是自我感觉？

我们的自我意识包括角色、属性behaviors, and associations that we consider most important about ourselves, according to Mark Ylvisaker, a researcher in communication disorders (2006). Examples of things that help to develop who we are as individuals can include our occupations, hobbies, affiliations, abilities, personality traits, and spiritual beliefs. How we identify and how we feel about ourselves is largely the result of our environment and immediate surroundings. For example, if you are a member of an encouraging or nurturing environment, you are more likely to feel accepted and self-confident in your abilities. But if you are part of an unsupportive or negative environment, you may have difficulty discovering who you are due to a lack of acceptance and encouragement to explore your interests and positive attributes. Think of a person you know who is confident in his or her ability to perform a particular task or skill. Chances are this individual has received positive feedback and support from others, which helped to further the development of these skills and foster a sense of identity.

As we grow and mature, our identities can also change depending on time and place. Relationships, parenthood, and life events can help shape our identities. Think back to who you were ten years ago. Do you feel like the same person now? Whether you were 19 or 59 a decade ago, it is likely that your concept of who you are has changed in some way. Perhaps you have accomplished major goals like earning a degree or starting a family and these events have changed how you see yourself. Perhaps experiences like caring for an aging parent or ending a long-term relationship have called into question things you thought you knew about yourself.

Your interactions with others can also shape your sense of self. For example, if your family praises your cooking ability, you may come to believe that you are a good cook. However, if you were to enroll in a cooking class, your perception of your abilities may change when you are in the company of others with more advanced culinary talents. In this example, your sense of self was altered, though your ability to cook remained the same. Your sense of self was not judged to be true or false, but rather good enough or not good enough because of the situation. If you truly enjoy cooking, though, and gain joy from it regardless of who else is in your presence, you are less likely to need encouragement from others because you are motivated from within.

A sense of self encompasses a child’s self-esteem, self-worth, identity, and self-image. It is a combination of the way children see themselves, their experiences, their environments, and how they feel about themselves. For children, a sense of self is linked to their developing identities, which become increasingly independent from their families.

交流障碍研究者马克·伊尔维萨克（Mark Ylvisaker）发现了七种有助于形成积极和富有成效的自我意识的经历：

什么是自我概念？

“随着孩子们对他们内心的心理世界欣赏，他们更专心地思考自己。在幼儿期间，...儿童开始构建一个自我概念，这是一个个人认为定义他或她是谁的属性，能力，态度和价值观的自我概念“（Berk，2003，第444页）。

当你思考你自己的生活,你可能记得pecific times when you became aware of particular circumstances that reinforced your own self-concept. Perhaps it was during a school or sports activity, a theatrical or musical performance, or another event when you realized you had accomplished a goal (either alone or with others) that you had set for yourself. Achieving goals you set and accomplishing tasks that required you to stretch beyond your comfort zone helped you develop a positive self-concept. The relationships that you had with caring adults in your life (e.g., parents, grandparents, child care providers, teachers, coaches, etc.) nurtured your self-concept as you learned about your unique abilities, gifts, and talents. Multiple factors, including cultural background, experiences, and, most importantly, relationships with adults and peers affect the development of a child’s self-concept. Just as your own experiences and early relationships with family members and peers have influenced the development of your self-concept, so, too, will you create positive experiences that help the children in your care learn about themselves.

自我意识对婴幼儿意味着什么？

在出生时父母和婴儿之间发挥的舞蹈为幼儿提供了理解他们是谁，它们如何适应世界，以及他们可以从附近的人所期待的内容。这些早期的经历来塑造孩子心理学家John Bowby指的是“内部工作模式”。最令人着迷的Bowlby闻名于依恋理论，认为婴儿通过与主要护理人员的附件开发内部工作模型。内部工作模型提供了一种理解和接近持续关系和对自我和他人的理解的框架。通过安全，培养和响应的关系，婴儿可能会培养一种自信感，“我很重要，”“我为”，“我可以让事情发生。”相比之下，由于不可预测，较少响应的早期互动，婴儿可能会感到恐惧和焦虑，同时将世界视为不安全。

由于高度依赖反应灵敏的成年人的照顾，语言交流能力有限，婴儿很难识别和描述他们如何看待自己。行为科学家约翰桑特罗克（John Santrock）表示：“在第二年晚些时候和第三年早些时候，幼儿表现出其他新出现的自我意识形式，反映出一种‘我’的感觉。例如，他们用“我很大”来指代自己；他们给内心的体验贴上标签，比如情感；他们监控自己，就像一个蹒跚学步的孩子说“自己动手”；他们说事情是他们的”（桑特罗克，2008）。

What does a Sense of Self Mean for Preschoolers?

Adults are able to view themselves in numerous dimensions and can describe themselves in detail with many distinctions in ability and worth within these dimensions, according to sociologist Viktor Gecas (1982). But young children are still developing, and their sense of self is not as complex or established as an adult’s.

万博体育全站app学龄前儿童刚刚开始了解自己独特的特色及其在世界上的地方。他们以广泛的方式在少数范围内观察自己，特别是物理术语（Marshall，1989），身体能力，学术能力，社会能力和社会验收（Marsh，2002; Measelle，1998）。当被要求描述自己时，他们最常会回复诸如“我可以跑快”的身体行动，“我是一个大孩子。我可以自己散步“或者像”我是一个女孩，我有棕色的头发。“偶尔学龄前儿童可能会继续列万博体育全站app出他们的喜欢和不喜欢（Marshall，1989）。万博体育全站app学龄前儿童在“这一点”或“的角度来看，如”这一点“，如完全好或坏，并且不理解一个人可能同时都有。

The experiences that occur during the early years lay the foundation for an individual’s sense of self, and once a perception is established it can be enduring (Marsh, 2002). Children whose culminating experiences cause them to view themselves as good or capable will likely carry on this confidence throughout their lives, whereas children who are consistently made to feel bad or inept early in life may have a difficult time seeing themselves as anything else later on.

What does a Sense of Self Mean for School-Age Children?

对于年龄较大的孩子来说，多年的生活经验已经积累起来，形成了一种明显的、坚定不移的、现实的自我意识。随着学龄儿童成长为青少年，他们的自我意识会变得越来越复杂，直到成年才逐渐建立起来。

根据埃里克森的心理社会阶段理论，学龄儿童的发展目标是实现能力感。在5岁到12岁之间，孩子们根据自己的表现能力和掌握生活中重要人物或自己看重的技能来塑造自我意识。

Significant relationships will have the most influence on a child’s sense of self, typically beginning with the family members, and later including teachers and peers. A teacher may be the first person to influence how a child feels about his or her academic abilities. And a provider can have a tremendous impact on how children engage in social interactions with each other.

What is Resilience?

According to Michele Tugade and Barbara Fredrickson (2004), there are individuals who seem to bounce back from negative events quite effectively, whereas others are caught in a rut, seemingly unable to get out of their struggling and negative streaks. Being able to move on despite negative stressors demonstrates a concept known as resilience. Someone who is said to be resilient is effective at coping and adapting even when faced with loss, hardship, or adversity. That is not to say that they are blind to negativity or do not experience high levels of anxiety and frustration. Instead, someone who is resilient chooses to focus on positive aspects and emotions of the situation at a greater rate.

每一个孩子都有机会发展和提高个人特征和其他优势，这些都是保护性因素，也有助于对不幸和变化形成保护性障碍。这些保护因素是在与有爱心的成年人建立重要、安全和有反应的关系的背景下产生的。在儿童玩耍和生活的环境中以及在儿童体内发现的保护性因素也可以加强这种能力。每个人的自我保护因素都与自我、社会和情感的发展密切相关。

文化扮演什么角色？

文化有助于定义个人如何看待自己以及如何与他人联系。请记住，个人在许多方面不同：语言多样性，文化多样性，性别多样性，宗教多样性和经济多样性（Selmi，Gallagher，＆Mora-Flores，2015）。各种各样的各个方面都在一起，形成自我意识。

It is important for you to respect others’ cultures and to acknowledge and understand that individuals may not develop a sense of self in the same manner. A family’s cultural values shape the development of a child’s self-concept: Culture shapes how we each see ourselves and others. For example, some cultures prefer children to be quiet and respectful when around adults. This does not indicate that a quiet child lacks self-confidence. It is important to remember that not all families reinforce the mainstream American cultural values of individualism, competition, and assertiveness.

幼儿学习并吸收对他们所说的故事，这通常强调一个家庭的价值观并影响孩子的自我概念。随着孩子的增长和上学，与同龄人一起度过休闲时间，他们得知别人可能没有与家人相同的价值。例如，一个家庭可以重视学术界在运动中，而另一个家庭可以重视艺术并播放乐器。每个家庭在他们的文化背景中影响孩子的自我概念。幼儿可以根据家庭的价值观形容自己。例如，一个来自文化的幼儿压力与他人合作的文化可能形容自己或自己是“善良”，而另一个孩子来自一个强调个人主义的文化可以将自己或自己形容为“一个好的跑步者”。作为家庭护万博体育下载官方网站理提供者，您认为培养幼儿自我感的重要作用，您必须仔细观察和倾听每个孩子。

Two of the most studied aspects of culture related to the sense of self are independence and interdependence. Independence views individuals as separate from one another, and ideas such as self-esteem, individual choices, and assertiveness are valued. Interdependence means more value is placed on the group, and ideas like conformity, concern for others, and group decision-making are valued. Children come from families and cultures that value independence and interdependence in different ways at different times.

According to developmental psychologist Catherine Raeff (2010), culture can influence how you and the families you serve view:

• 关系:Culture influences how you enter into and maintain relationships. For example, relationships may be seen as voluntary or as duty-based. This influences how adults encourage children to form relationships: Do they choose whom to play with, or are children encouraged to play in certain ways to promote group welfare?
• Personality traits：文化影响是否以及如何与谦卑，自尊，礼貌和自信相同的价值特征。文化也影响了你如何感知困难以及你对依赖他人的感受。
• 成就:Culture influences how you define success and whether you value certain types of individual and group achievements.
• Expressing emotions：文化影响你如何以及是否将感情视为公开的还是私人的。

花点时间反思一下你的文化对你自我意识的影响。这将如何影响您的教学理念和期望在您的家庭儿童保育计划？万博体育下载官方网站

What Does this Mean for You?

As a family child care provider, you are likely to encounter children and family members from a variety of backgrounds and life experiences. It is important for you to understand the complexity of culture’s influence on identity, but it is also important for you to understand individual differences. For example, a parent who has had a lifetime of encouragement, praise, and support may have a very different parenting style or needs from a parent who has experienced extensive criticism, self-doubt, and isolation. One parent may recognize and celebrate a young child’s growing abilities and all she or he is capable of doing, while another parent may choose to take on tasks a child is already capable of doing. Depending on how often a young child experiences these different approaches, he or she may come to doubt his or her abilities to control and influence his or her world. As a family child care provider, you will need to be able to provide young children and their families with culturally and developmentally sensitive care to help them be successful in life now and in the years ahead.

看到了吗

Watch this video as family child care providers reflect on their own and sense of self and the importance of self-understanding for children.

Sense of Self: An Introduction

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作为一个家万博体育下载官方网站庭儿童护理提供者，你可以在帮助孩子发展自我意识方面发挥重要作用。孩子们从养育和支持他们的成年人那里学习，鼓励他们探索自己的环境和成长。你可以做以下几件事来培养孩子的自我意识：

• 在您的计划中建立和培养社区感。
• 回应幼儿的意见，问题，感受或担忧。
• Acknowledge and show excitement in young children’s discoveries.
• 对儿童独特的背景和需求敏感。

Reach out to families of children in your program and learn about their lives.

Completing this Course

有关本课程中的预期，自我和文化理解的更多信息能力反思以及陪同的学习，探索和应用资源和活动的列表，参观家庭儿童保健自我和文化理解万博体育下载官方网站Course Guide.

Please note the References & Resources section at the end of each lesson outlines reference sources and resources to find additional information on the topics covered. As you complete lessons, you are not expected to review all the online references available. However, you are welcome to explore the resources further if you have interest, or at the request of your trainer, coach, or administrator.