Self Esteem Teaching

The interviewee is a Korean-American. She was born in Korea, but she emigrated to the U.S. at the age of four. She received a formal education in the U.S. In 2006, she returned to Korea to teach as an English teacher for only a year, but something has kept her here for the last 6 years. When I first met the interviewee, I found her to have high self esteem. She carries herself with a lot of confidence and is not afraid to speak her mind. She is also not afraid of talking about her flaws. After this interview, it was very clear to me that the parents’ role is a very critical part in establishing self esteem. Also, positive feedback from different social groups serves as a ruler for how to act in society. Depending on high or low self esteem, one can have different views of perceiving obstacles.

Source of Self Esteem

The parenting style of her parents was an important factor in building the interviewee’s self esteem. Her parents always reminded her to be pride of being Korean and being different from others when she was young. Her brother was born when she was 7 years old. She had to take care of her brother since her parents were busy with work. Her parents allowed her have responsibilities and authority at the same time. She imitated her parents’ parenting style and she thought she was more mature than her older cousins.

Identities; Social Identities and Behavior

She was the only Asian girl in the town that she grew up in from first to third grade. Therefore, she got a lot of attention from others. She told me that she liked that she grabbed attention from others and that made her feel special and unique from her peers. She got a lot of positive feedback the way she looked and the way she acted made her concrete self esteem when she was a teenager. As a Korea American, interestingly, she acted different ways depending in the social groups she engaged in.

Ineffective Self-Presentation and Spoiled Identities

She tends to see...