Self-concept is one of the most popular ideas in psychological literature. Unfortunately, it is also an illusive and often poorly defined construct. Before attempting to assess self-concept, counseling practitioners or researchers must first clarify for themselves what they mean by "self-concept" and then choose a method or instrument…

This overview of the self-concept theory describes how people organize and interpret their personal existence. It discusses the beginnings and recent history of the self-concept theory, and presents three major qualities of self-concept: that it is learned, organized, and dynamic. It asserts that individuals have relatively boundless potential for…

This digest reviews current literature on self-esteem, addressing its defining characteristics, discussing its importance, citing significant research findings on the development and benefits of self-esteem, and providing suggestions for counselors who seek to enhance their clients' self-esteem. Five references are included. (TE)

Learners of all ages need to expand their self-knowledge and determine the ways their interests and abilities are applicable in the changing social, economic, and work environments. Many of the new ways of teaching and learning offer processes by which students can gain experiences that enhance their self-knowledge. These varied learning processes…

As the United States debates what it expects of college graduates and how to measure the achievement of these expectations, the goals of students frequently are overlooked. Goals are what individuals hope to achieve and accomplish. Currently most colleges collect information about the broad goals students hold for attending college as they enter,…

Since culture provides a direction for discovering a sense of coherence between stability and change, therapeutic change can be established when clients become aware of their cultural rules. This digest examines techniques developed for ethnographic research that can be applied directly to the career counseling interview. Ethnography assumes that…

Creating Self-Portraits is an individual and/or group career development tool designed to assess without testing. Researchers have found that testing can be counter-productive; once clients were labelled, they frequently stopped self-examination. A tool was needed that would help people understand themselves in a way that would encourage further…

Noting that many beginning students in urban public colleges and technical schools are members of minority groups, this digest offers a six-step approach to teaching these students how to write effectively. Steps in the approach described in the digest are: (1) instruct students to consider the purpose of writing, write a central idea for the…

This brief paper reviews the literature and provides guidelines on how instructional practices to promote self-determination can be used to help students with learning disabilities make effective choices and decisions. Self-determination is linked to making good choices through five steps: know yourself; value yourself; plan; act; and experience…

Children of migrant farmworkers spend parts of each school year in different communities across the country; some children migrate back and forth between schools in Mexico and the United States. The hardships and rich experiences of this lifestyle provide educators with unique challenges and, at the same time, opportunities to learn and develop…

A growing body of evidence suggests that when students are intrinsically motivated they tend to employ strategies that demand more effort and that enable them to process information more deeply. Teachers can help motivate students to learn by maintaining a caring, supportive classroom climate. Tasks should be challenging but achievable and defined…

This digest focuses on the career counseling process, specifically on the contribution of assessment procedures to career exploration and planning. Because these career development tasks are experienced by everyone, this digest addresses assessment for the many rather than intensive, problem focused career counseling. The following basic…

This digest is intended to help parents and teachers understand and cope with underachievement in gifted students. Underachievement is defined and its various components (e.g., content and situation specificity and ties to self-concept development) are explained. Strategies to reverse patterns of underachievement are classified as either…

This digest offers guidelines to parents and educators helping gifted adolescents adjust to problems related to their giftedness. Challenges to adjustment are noted in the areas of: ownership (talented adolescents simultaneously "own" and yet question the validity of their abilities); dissonance (between their high standards and their…

This brief information sheet summarizes the types of social-emotional problems common among gifted children and suggests preventive actions schools can take. A table lists problems associated with characteristic strengths of gifted children. Specific problems briefly addressed include: uneven development, peer relations, excessive self-criticism,…