Teacher Characteristics and their Relationship to Change in the Congruency of Children’s Perception of Self and Ideal-Self,

Abstract

IN THE PAST two decades self-theory has devel oped as a major construct in the behavioral sciences. The growing importance of self-theory is particular ly evident in those theories which postulate that an individual's perception of himself is a major factor influencing his behavior. These theories depict the self-concept as an or ganized configuration of perceptions of the self. Self concepts that are incongruent with perceived reality may exist; however, according to Rogers (7), the ex tent to which the individual dimly perceives these incongruencies is a measure of his internal tension and determines the amount of defensive behavior. Many investigators have studied perceptions of self in relation to perceptions of an ideal-self and computed discrepancy scores. These scores have been shown to be related to anxiety, nervousness, and maladjustment as defined by various investiga tors (4: 30). Perkins (6) found a tendency for children to ex hibit increasingly smaller discrepancy scores with age. It is possible that maturational factors alone might account for this convergence. However, since the self and ideal-self concepts are acquired through environmental influences, it is not unreasonable to postulate that a variation in environment might facil itate or retard the movement toward greater self ideal self congruency. It is believed that teachers exert a strong force on the developing child and influence children's per ceptions of self and ideal-self. Perkins (6) found that children whose teachers had completed a child study course showed significantly greater gains in self-ideal self congruency over a six-month period than did children whose teachers had never partici pated in child study. Thus, in a sense it might be possible to think of some teachers as being more therapeutic than others.