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UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

CHAPTER III
MANAGING AND CARING FOR THE SELF
Lesson 1: Learning to Be a Better Learner
Lesson 2: Do Not Just Dream, Make It Happen
Lesson 3: Less Stress, More Care

Lesson 1:
Learning to Be a Better Learner

LESSON OBJECTIVES
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
1. Explain how learning occurs;
2. Enumerate various metacognition and studying techniques;
and
3. Identify the metacognitive techniques that you find most
appropriate for yourself.

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ACTIVITY
How Do You Think About Thinking?
Answer the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI) and
evaluate yourself as a learner. A copy of the MAI can also be
downloaded from the following link:
https://www2.viu.ca/studentsuccessservices/learningstrategist/d
ocuments/Meta cognitiveAwarenessInventory.pdf
(accessed October 1, 2017).

ANALYSIS
Answer the questions below. Then write your answers in the space
provided.
1. Do you agree with the results of your MAI? Why or why not?
2. Make a list of your “Top 5 Tips/Secrets for Studying” based on
your personal experiences/preferences. Share your answer in
class.
3. Does your MAI result consistent with your personal Top 5
Tips/Secrets for Studying?

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ABSTRACTION
• Metacognition
- Commonly defined as “thinking about thinking”
- It is the awareness of the scope and limitations of your current
knowledge and skills.
- Enables the person to adapt their existing knowledge and skills to
approach a learning task, seeking for the optimum result of the
learning experience
- Includes keeping one’s emotions and motivations while learning in
check
- The goal of metacognition is for the student to be a self-regulated
learner.

- Metacognition basically has two aspects:

1) self-appraisal is your personal reflection on your knowledge and
capabilities.
2) self-management is the mental process you employ using what
you have in planning and adapting to successfully learn or
accomplish a certain task.
- Similar concepts:
1) metacognitive knowledge or what you know about how you
think
2) metacognition regulation or how you adjust your thinking
processes to help you learn better

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- Under metacognitive knowledge, there are several variables that

affect how you know or assess yourself as a thinker:
• personal variable, which is your evaluation of your strengths
and weaknesses in learning
• task variable, which is what you know or what you think about
the nature of the task, as well as what strategies the task
requires
• strategy variable refers to what strategies or skills you already
have in dealing with certain tasks.
- You must have an accurate self-assessment—you must be honest
about what you know and capable of in order to find ways to
utilize your strengths and improve on your weaknesses.

- The following are other skills that can help you in exercising
metacognition:
• Knowing your limits.
The scope and limitations of your resources so that you can
work with what you have at the moment and look for ways to
cope with other necessities
• Modifying your approach.
The recognition that your strategy is not appropriate with the
task, to modify your strategy in comprehending your material
• Skimming.
Browsing over a material and keeping an eye on keywords,
phrases, or sentences
It is also about knowing where to search for such key terms.

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• Rehearsing. It’s not just about repeatedly talking, writing,

and/or doing what you have learned, but also trying to make a
personal interpretation or summary of the learning experience.
• Self-Test. Trying to test your comprehension of your learning
experience or the skills you have acquired during learning.
- Other strategies that you need to develop include asking questions
about your methods, self-reflection, finding a mentor or support
group if necessary, thinking out loud (though you have to be
considerate of others also when doing this), and welcoming errors
as learning experiences.

- Other tips that you can use in studying are the following:
1. Make an outline of the things you want to learn, the things
you are reading or doing, and/or the things you remember.
2. Break down the task in smaller and more manageable
details.
3. Integrate variation in your schedule and learning experience.
Change reading material every hour and do not put similar
topics together.
4. Try to incubate your ideas.
5. Revise, summarize, and take down notes, then reread them
to help you minimize cramming in the last minute.
6. Engage what you have learned.

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APPLICATION AND ASSESSMENT

Scenario:
You are about to study for your final examinations and it is as if the
universe conspired for a heavy finals’ week, all your subjects provided
at least three new reading materials and topics one week (7 days)
before the examination period.
Create a diagram or schedule using at least five of the metacognitive
strategies, skills, and studying techniques mentioned in this lesson on
how you would prepare for the next seven days before your final
examinations.

Lesson 2:
Do Not Just Dream, Make It Happen
• LESSON OBJECTIVES
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
1. Use Bandura’s self-efficacy theory for self-assessment;
2. Differentiate growth and fixed mindset by Dweck; and
3. Design personal goals adapting Locke’s goal setting theory.

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ACTIVITY
On each designated box, draw your envisioned “Future Self.” Who
would you be:
1. Five years from now

2. 10 years from now

3. 25 years from now

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ANALYSIS
Envisioned Self Plan
Answer the following questions.
1. Who are you or what would you become:
a. In five years?
b. In 10 years?
c. In 20 years?
2. What are your motivations for your envisioned self:
a. In five years
b. In 10 years?
c. In 20 years?

3. Outline your plans on how you will make your envisioned self into
reality:
a. In five years
b. In 10 years
c. In 20 years

4. How do you feel after doing this exercise?

5. What is your perception on goal setting?

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ABSTRACTION
• Albert E. Bandura’s Self-efficacy
- The Bobo Doll Experiment:
Sample children were presented with new social models of violent
and nonviolent behavior toward an inflatable redounding Bobo doll.
Result were: The group of children who saw the violent behavior
model became violent to the doll, while the control group who was
presented with the nonviolent behavior model was rarely violent to
the doll.
- This experiment has proven right the hypothesis that social modeling
is a very effective way of learning.
- Bandura’s social cognitive theory states that people are active
participants in their environment and are not simply shaped by that
environment.

• Summary of Self-efficacy Theory:

- Distinguishes between expectations of efficacy and response-outcome
expectancies:
Outcome expectancy is “a person’s estimate that a given behavior will lead to
certain outcomes.”
Efficacy expectation is “the conviction that one can successfully execute the
behavior required to produce the outcomes.”
- Outcome and efficacy expectations are differentiated because individuals can
believe that a particular course of action will produce certain outcomes.
- Self-efficacy typically comes into play when there is an actual or perceived
threat to one’s personal safety, or one’s ability to deal with potentially aversive
events.
- Dr. Bandura defined self-efficacy as “people’s beliefs about their capabilities to
produce designated levels of performance that exercise influence over events
that affect their lives.”

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- He identified acts of people with “high assurance in their

capabilities,” such as:
1. Approach difficult tasks as challenges to be mastered;
2. Set challenging goals and maintain strong commitment to
them;
3. Heighten or sustain efforts in the face of failures or setbacks;
4. Attribute failure to insufficient effort or deficient knowledge
and skills which are acquirable; and
5. Approach threatening situations with assurance that they can
exercise control over them.

- In contrast, people “who doubt their capabilities”:

1. shy away from tasks they view as personal threats;

2. have low aspirations and weak commitment to goals they
choose to pursue;
3. dwell on personal deficiencies, obstacles they will encounter,
and all kinds of adverse outcomes, rather than concentrating
on how to perform successfully;
4. slacken their efforts and give up quickly in the face of
difficulties;
5. are slow to recover their sense of efficacy following failure or
setbacks; and
6. fall easy victim to stress and depression.

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- Dr. Bandura described four main sources of influence by

which a person’s self-efficacy is developed and maintained.

These are:
1. performance accomplishments or mastery experiences;
2. vicarious experiences;
3. verbal or social persuasion; and
4. physiological (somatic and emotional) states.

• Carol S. Dweck’s Fixed and Growth Mindset Theory

- Dr. Dweck described people with two types of mindset:
People who believe that success is based on their innate abilities have a
“fixed” theory of intelligence, and goes under fixed mindset.
People who believe that success is based on hardwork, learning, training,
and perseverance have growth theory of intelligence, which goes under
growth mindset.
- Fixed-mindset individuals dread failure because it is a negative statement
on their basic abilities;
- Growth-mindset individuals do not mind or fear failure as much because
they realize their performance can be improved and learning comes from
failure.
- Individuals may not necessarily be aware of their own mindset, but their
mindset can still be discerned based on their behavior.

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• Edwin A. Locke’s Goal Setting Theory

- The basic contents of goal setting theory are summarized in
terms of 14 categories of findings:
1. The more difficult the goal, the greater the achievement.
2. The more specific or explicit the goal, the more precisely
performance is regulated.
3. Goals that are both specific and difficult lead to the
highest performance.
4. Commitment to goals is most critical when goals are
specific and difficult.
5. High commitment to goals is attained when:
a. the individual is convinced that the goal is important; and
b. the individual is convinced that the goal is attainable (or that,
at least, progress can be made toward it).

There are many ways to convince a person that a goal is important:

• In most laboratory settings, it is quite sufficient to simply ask for
compliance after providing a plausible rationale for the study.
• In work situations, the supervisor or leader can use legitimate
authority to get initial commitment.
• Continued commitment might require additional incentives such as
supportiveness, recognition, and rewards.
Financial incentives may facilitate commitment and performance;
participation by subordinates in setting goals leads to higher
commitment than curtly telling people what to do with no
explanation; self-set goals can be highly effective in gaining
commitment.

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Commitment can be enhanced by effective leadership. Relevant

leadership techniques include:
• providing and communicating an inspiring vision;
• acting as role model for the employees;
• expecting outstanding performance;
• promoting employees who embrace the vision and dismissing
those who reject it;
• delegating responsibility (“ownership”) for key tasks;
• goal setting itself can be delegated for capable, responsible
employees;
• expressing (genuine) confidence in employee capabilities;
• enhancing capabilities through training; and
• asking for commitment in public.

6. In addition to having a direct effect on performance, self-efficacy

influences:
a. the difficulty level of the goal chosen or accepted;
b. commitment to goals;
c. the response to negative feedback or failure; and
d. the choice of task strategies.
7. Goal setting is most effective when there is feedback that shows
progress in relation to the goal.
8. Goal setting (along with self-efficacy) mediates the effect of
knowledge of past performance on subsequent performance.
9. Goals affect performance by affecting the direction of action, the
degree of effort exerted, and the persistence of action over time.

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10. Goals stimulate planning in general. Often, the planning quality

is higher than that which occurs without goals. When people
possess task or goal-relevant plans as a result of experience or
training, they activate them automatically when confronted with
a performance goal. Newly learned plans or strategies are most
likely to be utilized under the stimulus of a specific, difficult goal.
11.When people strive for goals on complex tasks, they are least
effective in discovering suitable task strategies if:
a. they have no prior experience or training on the task;
b. there is high pressure to perform well; and
c. there is high time pressure (to perform well immediately).

12.Goals (including goal commitment), in combination with self-

efficacy, mediate or partially mediate the effects of several
personality traits and incentives on performance.
13.Goal-setting and goal-related mechanisms can be trained and/or
adopted in the absence of training for the purpose of self-
regulation.
14.Goals serve as standards of self-satisfaction, with harder goals
demanding higher accomplishment in order to attain self-
satisfaction than easy goals. Goals can also be used to enhance task
interest, reduce boredom, and promote goal clarity. When used to
punish or intimidate people, however, goals increase stress and
anxiety.

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APPLICATION AND ASSESSMENT

1. Jack Canfield Quote Hunt. Using Canfield’s quote on success at the
beginning of this lesson, identify the elements of Bandura, Dweck, and
Locke’s Theories. Give explanation to your answer.
2. Self-efficacy Collage. Make a collage of your own perceived self-efficacy
using Dr. Albert Bandura’s four sources of influence for the development
and maintenance of self-efficacy.
3. Graphic Organizer. Make an artistic graphic organizer to differentiate fixed
mindset from growth mindset of Dr. Carol Dweck. Highlight the definition,
description, characteristics, examples of situations where each mindset
are developed, and their advantages and disadvantages.
4. Goal Setting Plan. Make a goal setting plan (short term for one semester
only) based on what you learned from Locke’s goal setting theory.
5. Dream Board. Make your dream board, five years after college graduation.

Lesson 3:
Less Stress, More Care
• LESSON OBJECTIVES
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
1. Explain the effects of stress to one’s health;
2. Examine cultural dimension of stress and coping; and
3. Design a self-care plan.

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ACTIVITY
Self Stress Assessment
To handle life stress is to identify sources of life stress. Arizona State
University adopted “The Social Readjustment Scale” of T. H. Holmes and R.
H. Rahe to come up with the “College Student’s Stressful Event Checklist.”
Use the Event Checklist to assess your stress level as college student.
Follow these instructions for your guidance:
1. Get a copy of the “College Student’s Stressful Event Checklist” from the
Arizona State University available through Research Gate. Use the link
provided:
(https://www.researchgate.net/file.PostFileLoader.
html?id=57361005f7b67ee8fb041dc2&assetKey=AS%3A361336895
754242%401463160837813)

2. Answer the questionnaire honestly. To put the checklist in our context,

change the third item about “Divorce between parents,” to
“Separation between parents.”
3. Write your score and its interpretation inside the box:

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ABSTRACTION
• Stress and Human Response
- Selye hypothesized a general adaptation or stress syndrome. This
general stress syndrome affects the whole body. Stress always
manifests itself by a syndrome, a sum of changes, and not by simply
one change.
- The general stress syndrome has three components:
1. The alarm stage
2. The stage of resistance
3. The exhaustion stage
- Stress diseases are maladies caused principally by errors in the
body’s general adaptation process.

- If stress is induced chronically, our defense response lowers its resistance

since fewer antibodies are produced and an inflammatory response
dwindles.
- The stress response begins in the brain.
- When someone experiences a stressful event, the amygdala, an area of the
brain that contributes to emotional processing, sends a distress signal to
the hypothalamus.
- The hypothalamus is a bit like a command center. This area of the brain
communicates with the rest of the body through the autonomic nervous
system.
- The autonomic nervous system has two components:
The sympathetic nervous system triggers the fight-or-flight response,
providing the body with a burst of energy so that it can respond to
perceived dangers.
The parasympathetic nervous system promotes the “rest and digest”
response that calms the body down after the danger has passed.

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• Techniques to Counter Chronic Stress

1. Relaxation response. These include deep abdominal breathing,
focus on a soothing word (such as peace or calm), visualization
of tranquil scenes, repetitive prayer, yoga, and tai chi.
2. Physical activity. People can use exercise to stifle the buildup
of stress in several ways. Exercise, such as taking a brisk walk
shortly after feeling stressed, not only deepens breathing but
also helps relieve muscle tension.
3. Social support. Confidants, friends, acquaintances, co-workers,
relatives, spouses, and companions all provide a life-
enhancing social net, and may increase longevity.

• The Cultural Dimension of Stress and Coping

- a person’s internalized cultural values, beliefs, and norms affect the
appraisal process of stressors and the perceived appropriateness of
coping responses;
- stress and coping are universal experiences faced by individuals
regardless of culture, ethnicity, and race;
- members of different cultures might consider and respond to stressors
differently with respect to coping goals, strategies, and outcomes.
- avoidance, withdrawal, and forbearance coping methods are common
among Asians;
- spiritual, religious, and ritual based coping are common among African-
Americans and African-Canadians;
- spiritual and religious coping and coping through family support are
common among individuals of Latino/Latina backgrounds

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• Self-care Therapy
1. Stop, breathe, and tell yourself: “This is hard and I will get through this
one step at a time.”
2. Acknowledge to yourself what you are feeling. All feelings are normal
so accept whatever you are feeling.
3. Find someone who listens and is accepting. You do not need advice.
You need to be heard.
4. Maintain your normal routine as much as possible
5. Allow plenty of time for a task.
6. Take good care of yourself. Remember to:
a. Get enough rest and sleep.
b. Eat regularly and make healthy choices.
c. Know your limits and when you need to let go.
d. Identify or create a nurturing place in your home.
e. Practice relaxation or meditation.
f. Escape for a while through meditation, reading a book, watching a
movie, or taking a short trip.

• Self-compassion Therapy
- Being warm and understanding toward ourselves when we suffer,
fail, or feel inadequate, rather than flagellating ourselves with self-
criticism;
- Being imperfect and experiencing life difficulties is inevitable, so we
soothe and nurture ourselves when confronting our pain rather
than getting angry when life falls short of our ideals;
- Recognizes that life challenges and personal failures are part of
being human, an experience we all share. In this way, it helps us to
feel less desolate and isolated when we are in pain.

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• Self-compassion Phrases
- This is a moment of suffering.
- Suffering is a part of life.
- May I be kind to myself.
- May I give myself the compassion I need.
The first phrase helps to mindfully open to the sting of emotional
pain. The second phrase reminds us that suffering unites all living
beings and reduces the tendency to feel ashamed and isolated
when things go wrong in our lives. The third phrase begins the
process of responding with self-kindness rather than self-criticism.
The final phrase reinforces the idea that you both need and deserve
compassion in difficult moments.
Other phrases that may feel more authentic in a given situation are:
“May I accept myself as I am,” “May I forgive myself,” or “May I
learn to accept what I cannot change.”

• Self-compassion and Emotional Well-being

- A key feature of self-compassion is the lack of self-criticism, and self-
criticism is known to be an important predictor of anxiety and
depression.
- Self-compassion is not merely a matter of looking on the bright side of
things or avoiding negative feelings. Self-compassionate people recognize
when they are suffering, but are kind toward themselves.
- Self-compassion is associated with greater wisdom and emotional
intelligence, suggesting that self-compassion represents a wise way of
dealing with difficult emotions.
- By wrapping one’s pain in the warm embrace of self-compassion, positive
feelings are generated that help balance the negative ones.

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• Self-compassion, Motivation, and Health

- Research supports the idea that self-compassion enhances
motivation rather than self-indulgence.
- Self-compassionate people aim just as high, but also recognize
and accept that they cannot always reach their goal.
- Self-compassionate people have been found to have less
motivational anxiety and engage in fewer self-handicapping
behaviors such as procrastination than those who lack self-
compassion.
- Self-compassion was positively associated with mastery goals (the
intrinsic motivation to learn and grow) and negatively associated
with performance goals (the desire to enhance one’s self-image)
- Self-compassionate people are motivated to achieve, but for
intrinsic reasons, not because they want to garner social approval.

• Self-compassion versus Self-esteem

Self-compassion:
- Predicts greater happiness and optimism as well as less depression and
anxiety when controlling for self-esteem
- Are less focused on evaluating themselves, feeling superior to others,
worrying about whether or not others are evaluating them, defending
their viewpoints, or angrily reacting against those who disagree with
them
Self-esteem :
- Robust association with narcissism
- Evaluation of superiority/inferiority that helps to establish social rank
stability and is related to alerting, energizing impulses and dopamine
activation

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• Self-compassionate Letter
1. Candidly describe a problem that tends to make you feel bad about
yourself.
2. Next, think of an imaginary friend who is unconditionally accepting
and compassionate.
3. Finally, write a letter to yourself from that perspective. What would
your friend say about your perceived problem? What words would he
or she use to convey deep compassion? How would your friend
remind you that you are only human? If your friend were to make any
suggestions, how would they reflect unconditional understanding?
4. When you are done writing, put the letter down for a while and come
back to it later. Then read the letter again, letting the words sink in,
allowing yourself to be soothed and comforted.

• Less Stress, Care More

We should be in control of the stress that confronts us every day.
Otherwise, when we are overwhelmed by stress, it can be
detrimental to our health. Self-care and self-compassion are two
ways to positively confront stress. We should love and care for
our self more and more each day.

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APPLICATION AND ASSESSMENT

1. Reaction Paper. Make a reaction paper about the article “Stress and
Filipino” by Michael L. Tan from the Philippine Center for Investigative
Journalism. (2006). The article is available through this link:
http://pcij.org/ stories/stress-and-the-filipino/. Use the lesson on the
social and cultural dimension of stress in making your reaction paper.
2. Self-Care Plan. Design for your self-care plan for the whole school
year.
3. Reflection Paper. Make a self-compassionate letter and make a
reflection paper about it.

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