Introduction
Being self aware can help to be more vigilant about what is going on in the surroundings and flexibly adapt to the changing situations. Once a person is self aware of the environment, it is more probable to communicate with clarity and clear intention. It becomes possible to observe without any biases, calculate various perspectives and come to valid conclusions by being self aware.
Self Awareness in Students
The habit of being self aware starts in school where a child is exposed to multiple variations of their surroundings such as a different set of people of different mindsets. Students adapt to teachings and further inculcate the same in their lives.
It is important to have self awareness in students in their learning stage of life which can help them build self esteem and adaptability. These qualities would stay with them for a lifetime. Be it any point of time in life, students who are self aware would easily be able to find solutions to their struggles. Because self awareness changes one’s mindset of how to look at things in a positive sense and develop consciousness for the same.
Let us consider a valid survey as done by ResearchGate. In a classroom of 60 female students of the Efaf pre-university school, they were divided into two broad groups – control group and experimental group. After interrogating them with a self awareness programme related to the English subject, the following observations were made:
- The experimental group received the instructions well, whereas the control group was not receptive.
- Being self aware for a consistent period of time, the experiential group delivered better results in the questionnaire than the other control group, who barely followed the self awareness instructions.
Four Dimensions of Self Awareness
Students come to term with their inner self once they become self aware. It helps them discover:
- Who they really are?
- What would they like to become?
- What feelings and thoughts do they have for their own self?
- What others believe for them and their reflection?
Reasons Why Students’ Self Awareness is Important
It is important to understand the accurate reasons for self awareness being so important in a student’s life. These reasons have been listed below:
- Builds Self Esteem
Students who are self aware are driven by increased self esteem. Their sense of self worth is very high. In Spite of their own weaknesses and external risks of failing and not performing as well as expected, students tend to look forward to creating opportunities for themselves even in such aforesaid adverse situations.
Self esteem plays a big role in a student’s life because once this habit is developed, students tend to have good mental, emotional and physical health. They are self motivated to unlearn and learn new things, which also affects their decision making process. This quality helps them in the later stage of life as they become self reliant and do not depend on others for an affirmation. They become self confident about their own skills and potentials.
- Nurtures Self Control
When students are self aware of their own feelings and have control over their thought procedures, it becomes easier for them to tame their mind and construct actions accordingly.
By self regulating their own actions, students can improve their habit of self control and refrain from making as many mistakes. Thus, this could lead to having lesser regret in life, professionally or personally. Students become accountable for their own deeds and reflect responsible citizens.
- Fosters Growth Mindset
Having a growth mindset is the most favorable quality that can accelerate the success rate of an individual. If a student has this quality, he can look at the positive things of his curriculum and not get easily disappointed by his own mistakes and challenges.
A brief description of what a growth mindset actually is when a person acknowledges his skills and counts on his intelligence for molding any situation and turning it into a favorable one. When a student fosters a growth mindset, it becomes pretty easy for them to explore multiple perspectives simply beyond their comfort zones.
- Increases Empathy
Being self aware of oneself helps to enhance socio-emotional skills. In the case of students, when they become self aware of their own feelings, they learn how to respond to different situations and make diligent decisions in performing well in academics and extra curricular activities.
It is easier to build quality relationships with your peers and nurture leadership qualities therefore. Students acknowledge that the peers look up to empathetic teachers or anyone else around as it is easier for someone else to talk to people who understand the problem quotient and whom they can go to for solutions because they are good listeners and establish healthy communication.
- Improves Critical Thinking
Self awareness helps students to meticulously think and and reflect on thoughts more logically. Being self aware helps students to use their emotions and mind, at the same time. The decisions taken are more rational than taken when not self aware.
Critical thinking brings control over feelings and develops positive thinking patterns. It nurtures personal growth and intelligent thinking. Self awareness benefits in a way to have a clearer vision and focus on SMART goals. Being self aware helps a student to set study objectives that aim at being specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound.
- Helps in Decision Making
When a student has his emotions in control, they can be better at decision making. Their analyzing power grows and they are able to establish clarity in objective reasoning. This factor plays a major role in being successful in future.
When a student realsies that his self awareness has been helping him realize his true potential, he becomes more confident to handle situations in a better manner. This concept is well known as situational awareness in which understanding the current now, helps in making predictions for future events and set priorities accordingly.
- Increases Success Rate
When a student is being self aware, the probability of recognizing his true potential strengths and opportunities is more. Identifying and being prepared for the probable risks and challenges, by molding ones’ positive attributes calculatively can help manage the risk of failure very well.
Let’s consider an example. If a student is self aware of what he is good at and what his weaknesses are, he will be able to decipher his current position in the class more vividly. He would not lose hope or go into the state of a fixed mindset. But, at the same time improve upon getting more self aware to identify his weak points and work upon them. With this practice, the students will gradually be affluent in the subject and start loving math.
To conclude, self awareness is realizing the inner consciousness and calculating further steps accordingly that could benefit oneself in future. Self awareness helps students to recognize their emotions, feelings, thoughts, weaknesses and strengths.Fostering self awareness in students can help them shape their future and demonstrate immense compassion for their peers. This could help them to be a better version of themselves.
