Self-confidence is the foundation of all great success and achievement. – Brian Tracy
Why is confidence important?
Confidence allows a child to trust self, their innate abilities and judgement. A 5-year-old has confidence levels that can be compared to that of an adult. Research shows that confidence is essential to help children be resilient, build and maintain social circles and perform to their full potential in the classroom. It helps children have a balanced view of self and know when something is well done and help identify their flaws. It allows children to build a balanced sense of self-worth, expect respect and help create the foundation for being compassionate and identify values that are important to them.
As an Occupational Therapist (OT), I have the privilege of working with young clients and seeing them thrive with the just right challenge. Twin 7-year-olds that I was working with were polar opposites in their visible levels of confidence. The 7-year-old girl I had weekly sessions with who was normally bubbly and full of witty come backs sat quietly during one session and agreed with everything I was saying (this was very unusual). We started working on some of the things she loves to do and as were halfway through the session she asked me “Do you think I am good enough?” The question left me surprised and without reacting, I asked her what she meant and why she thought so. She said... “well, I feel invisible in school and though I know everything, I never seem to be able to say the right thing and I feel so stupid”. My heart went out to her. She had the insight to understand and verbalize what she was feeling and why she was feeling it. The fear she expressed is commonplace in my practice. Her brother, however, was the proverbial know-it -all, he knew everything (even if he didn’t) and could not understand why his friends and teachers did not agree with him.
Their parents were concerned about the variations in confidence and self-esteem between the two of them too.
Our cues are very often responsible for increasing the pressure on children to perform perfectly and feel shame and push themselves harder or give up when they cannot. Over time, research has highlighted the importance of allowing our children to work through their own failures by providing empathy and acknowledging how they feel but not propping them up. This highlights the importance of providing children with the just right challenge and being able to listen to children when they talk and express how they feel.
Education breeds confidence, confidence breeds hope, hope breeds peace – Confucius
The philosophy of the Aditya Birla Integrated School is to build a body of knowledge and expertise in the area of special learning needs to empower parents, teachers and professionals in the field with individualized educational plans, resources, guidance and therapeutic interventions and thus help create happy, confident and independent learners.
Inclusion of children into a mainstream school is the most effective way to combat discriminatory attitudes according to the UNESCO (2009). The basic assumption of the concept of inclusion is that integrating students with special educational needs into mainstream classes would improve student performance due to a more stimulating and demanding environment (Gorges et al. 2018).
The Aditya Birla Integrated School helps provide children with ample opportunity to succeed in a very constructive way through a multi-pronged approach by helping children set manageable goals, increasing focus on self- acceptance, highlighting the importance of mindfulness and having gratitude and awe. The teachers and specialists provide the just right challenge to encourage children to grow as confident individuals and help create opportunity
How does this approach help?
This multi-pronged approach helps the children at the school develop the foundational skills required for healthy self-confidence. Helping students set manageable goals allows students them to work their way through the process achieving their goals and thus helps students develop a tangible sense of self and helps them develop skills critical to problem solving. Being mindful and having gratitude allow the development of a ‘quiet ego’, where the focus is more on others and things happening rather than noisy self-focus. Working as a team has its benefits where the teachers and professionals model gratitude and compassion and help develop caring for others.
It takes a village to raise a child- African Proverb
At The Aditya Birla Integrated School (TABIS), we truly believe that a child’s development is fostered by everyone involved with their upbringing. Parents, teachers and professionals work together to help each child be their best confident self and go out and be successful in their community.
Author: Franzina Coutinho
Occupational Therapist, The Aditya Birla Integrated School
Please contact TABIS for more information on special learning curriculum and admissions,
The Aditya Birla Integrated School,
162-164, D.N. Road, Opposite CST Station.
Fort. Mumbai – 400 001.
Contact No.: +91 8828860611
Office Timing: 9:30am – 12:30pm
E-mail: tabis.info@abet.co.in
Also read: Factors to consider while looking for a special learning school in Mumbai
