Self-Esteem

Help young people to a more accurate awareness of self, to be clearer about their life goals and to make a start on achieving these, students will gain a clearer self-identity and a greater control over their lives.

Our chances of being successful in life and achieving life goals are increased when we perceive ourselves accurately. Knowledge of self is not easy and young people's perception of themselves, their behaviours and the consequences of  these behaviours are often inaccurate.

The book divides naturally into three sections: past (where I have come from); present (where I am now);  and future (where I am  going to).

• Strategy 1 Young people look to the past and become aware of achievements and significant moments in their lives.
• Strategies 2 -4 Young people focus on themselves in the present, examining their behaviour, values, attitudes and feelings.
• Strategies 5-6 Young people are helped to see themselves as others see them and invite their peers to assess them on a checklist of personal characteristics.
• Strategies 7-8 Young people now look to themselves in the future and think about the type of person they would like to be, together with ways for making a success of life.
• Strategies 9-11 Long-term goals are and positive steps to achieving these goals decided on.
• Strategies 12- 13 By playing a board game, students identify what they would ideally like from life and are encouraged to take steps to achieve this. And finally there is an evaluation of the students' responses to this course.

Your Choice is a complete, easy-to-use course of PSHE activities and strategies, with accompanying photocopiable master worksheets. It is designed for Personal and Social Skills lessons or active tutorial work, based on experiential learning methods. The exercises are flexible enough to be dipped into as a component of a Health Education, Religious Education, or English course. For young people Your Choice provides a secure and stimulating framework within which they can consider their attitudes and behaviour, and develop more mature insights into their own personalities and their interaction with others.

Each handbook represents about a term's work on a specific aspect of personal skills development and each chapter provides a structures lesson plan, and suggestions for further work. Self-Esteem offers a variety of structured experiences designed to enhance students' self-esteem and positive feelings about themselves and others. The skills of handling positive and negative 'put-downs' are also dealt with.

Authors Shay & Margaret McConnon spent 15 years in special education, teaching young people who had emotional and behavioural difficulties. They developed programmes to enhance the self-worth of these students and to improve their social skills. The Your Choice books are best sellers in their field and continue to form the basis for many PSHE programmes across the English-speaking world.

'Your Choice Series is a valuable resource, which can be used with flexibility – large chunks or single activities can be used with equal success' Tracy Hollyhead, Social Inclusion Facilitator, Telford & Wrekin Council Sensory Inclusion Service.