Self-assessment, self-esteem and self-acceptance

Teachers are often troubled by the difficulty of enhancing their pupils’ self-esteem, particularly in the case of students who are especially weak and whose low self-assessment is justified. Dewhurst suggested (JME, 20(1), pp. 3-11) that these students can be helped by bringing them to accept themselves, since self-acceptance is compatible with realistic low self-assessment. Dewhurst's thesis is criticised and it is suggested that self-acceptance is inseparable from an improvement in one's self-assessment. Thus, the improvement of self-assessment is a necessary condition for enhancing self-esteem. If cases exist where this reformation of self-image is unattainable, that is, cases where the self-assessment of the student cannot be improved, it is doubtful whether there is anything we can do about it.