Abstract:
Although extraordinary claims have often been made regarding the success of numerous approaches aimed at enhancing children's self-concept (Canfield & Wells, 1976; Conner, 1986; Thompson & Lowson, 1992), not all researchers are convinced that such programs have any measurable effects on the interpretation of this construct (Hattie, 1992; Kohn, 1995). It has been argued by some, in fact, that such programs may be more harmful than they are beneficial, often teaching the child that s/he is the most important person in the world and so leaving him/her with the erroneous belief that it is the responsibility of others to make them feel good (Katz, 1993; Vitz, 1994). The program under investigation has been running in some Western Australian public as well as private schools since 1992, with anecdotal data suggesting that staff as well as students saw it as being beneficial in raising pupils' self-esteem. It may be the case, however, that such claims are highly exaggerated, as the program has never been formally evaluated. After detailing program content, this paper presents the results of a systematic evaluation with three primary classes from different schools. The test instrument used was the Song and Hattie About Myself test (Hattie, 1992), which measured seven sub-scales of a concept of the self. Future implications for the program are discussed.