QUARTER 1 - UNIT 1: SELF-DEVELOPMENT

Lesson 1: Knowing Oneself – Strengths and Limitations

Objectives: At the end of this module, you will be able to:

1. Explain that knowing oneself can make a person accept his/her strengths and limitations and deal with others better
2. Share your unique characteristics, habits, and experiences
3. Start and maintain a journal

I. INTRODUCTION:
Welcome to new school year, my dear students! How are you, today?

This core subject is Personal Development. This subject is part of the curriculum in Senior High school. This subject
provides lessons for student to know how to interact positively with each other, and to develop physically, mentally and socially
to fullest potential.

In this module, knowing self including strengths and limitations is being discussed. You are ought to answer the activities
given below.

II. ACTIVITIES

It is quicker to comment and judge on other people’s behavior, traits, and personality, however, difficult to evaluate our
own. In this lesson, we will guide you to understand yourselves better with careful reflection on how we see ourselves as an
individual. We will get to know your character as a young individual approaching late adolescence.

Big question: How can understanding yourself lead to self-acceptance and encourage better relationships with others?

Instructions: Only write the answer on your paper. There is no need to copy the statements anymore.

Activity 1: Self-Concept Inventory – Assess your own self-concept by rating yourself with the scale:
4 – Very Strong 2 – Weak

3 – Strong 1 – Very Weak

_____ 1. I am proud of my physical figure. _____ 9. I can easily analyze situations and
make right judgments.
_____ 2. I am physically attractive and
beautiful/handsome. _____ 10. I can express my ideas clearly.

_____ 3. I am charming and poise. _____ 11. My friends and classmates look up to
me as a good example.
_____ 4. I am easy to get along with.
_____ 12. I have clean conscience in what I do
_____ 5. I am loveable and easy to love. and say.
_____6. I am approachable and people easily get _____ 13. I can easily write down my ideas with
comfortable with me. confidence.
_____ 7. I am intelligent. _____ 14. I am emotionally stable. I don’t easily
_____ 8. I have special talents and abilities. panic in trouble.
_____ 15. I am a good listener.
Activity 1.2: How do you think of yourself?

1. In what area do you consider yourself strong? Weak? Explain why in 1-2 sentences.

2. What qualities you consider as weak but other people see as strong? Cite 2 qualities and explain why.

3. Is your self-image realistic or idealistic? Explain your answer in 2-3 sentences.

Important terminologies:

• Development is a progressive series of changes as the result of interactions between biological and environmental factors.
- Neil J. Salkind (2004)
• Behavior is the product of continuous interaction between personal and environmental variables.
• Self-development is a process of discovering oneself by realizing one’s potential and capabilities that are shaped overtime
either by studying formal education or through environmental factors.
• Personal Development is an individual’s journey to positively improve his individuality by overcoming his unacceptable
traits and practices.

It is important to examine yourself – how you respond and handle situations that trigger and challenge your behavior. You
must understand that change is a complex process that you need to surpass in order to understanding yourself and others better.

“An unexamined life is not worth living.” - Socrates

In relation to Socrates’ famous line, Thomas Hobbes also discussed the same concept with the phrase “read thyself.”
Hobbes emphasized that a person learns by studying oneself. Questioning or challenging yourself to gain understanding of who
you really are is a form of self-concern.

RENE DESCARTES

• The Father of Modern Philosophy

• Stated that the mind is the seat of consciousness. Thus, everything that we are, our identity, passion, interest, and feelings,
all come from the mind.
• Self-concept theory:
 Self-concept is learned. Self-concept is acquired as soon as the person learns to mingle with others. His self-
concept is influenced by his environment and the people in it.
 Self-concept is firm. A person may hear other people’s perception about him but he will always think his
perception of himself is the right one.
 Self-concept is dynamic. Self-concept undergoes development as the person goes through different experiences.
ALBERT BANDURA

• Coined the term reciprocal determinism which means the environment shapes human behavior, in return, human behavior
shapes the environment.
• He asserts that behavior doesn’t need to be performed or reinforced. Behavior can simply be acquired through
observational learning.
• He identified major behavior determinants:
 Antecedents (the past)
 Consequence (the result of one’s actions)
 Cognitive factors (self-efficacy: how one view’s himself based on his capacity)

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 We can also understand our self-concept with our actual self and ideal self. The actual self is who we
actually are while the ideal self is who we want to be. These two selves are in constant negotiation on how to
respond to situations and challenges encountered.

It is important that the actual self is aligned with the ideal self. Who we are should be in line of who we
want to be. A person will feel contentment and peace of mind if he is aligned with himself.

Activity 1.3: Get to know yourself better.

I. Assess yourself and make a list of behaviors you acquired/developed from the following. List three
(3) behaviors per factor:
1. Your past -

2. The consequences of your actions –

3. How you want to view yourself –

4. How others view you -

Summative Assessment: Journal writing

Write a journal of the adjustments you’ve experienced for the first two weeks of classes in the new
normal. Write as well the things you have done to cope up with the adjustments you mentioned. Write it in
paragraph form (2-3 paragraphs)

LESSON 2: KNOWING ONESELF – SHARE YOUR UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS, HABITS, AND

EXPERIENCES

Activity 2.1: With the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, write your paper the number that corresponds on how
strongly you agree or disagree with each statement. Each statement are dealings of how you generally feel about
yourself.

1 4
Statement Strongly 2 Disagree 3 Agree Strongly
Disagree Agree
1. Overall, I’m satisfied with myself. 1 2 3 4
2. At times I think I’m no good at all. 1 2 3 4
3. I feel that I have several good qualities. 1 2 3 4
4. I can do things as well as other people. 1 2 3 4
5. I feel I do not have much to be proud
1 2 3 4
of.
6. I certainly feel useless at times. 1 2 3 4

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 7. I feel that I am a person of worth, at
least on an equal plane with others. 1 2 3 4

8. I wish I could have more respect for

1 2 3 4
myself.
9. All in all, I am inclined to feel that I am
1 2 3 4
a failure.
10. I take a positive attitude toward
1 2 3 4
myself.

Let us now focus on when and how our characteristics, habits, and experiences develop and manifest. As an
adolescent, it is important that we become more open about ourselves.

1. Self-esteem is your evaluation of your own worth which can be positive or negative.
a. Positive self-esteem is the valuation that is pleasing and acceptable according to your standards
and that of others.
b. Negative self-esteem is feeling distraught or down and unaccepted by others.

Tafarodi & Swann (1995) stated the factors to identify the level of self-esteem of an individual, which
are:
 His own appearance
 How satisfied he is of his relationships; and,
 How he views his performance

A person’s self-esteem depends on how he faces the challenges he encounters daily.

2. Self-efficacy refers to your beliefs about what you can do with your abilities. It doesn’t refer directly to
your abilities (Stajkovic & Luthans, 1998). It is your self-belief to achieve your most important goal and
achieve a positive result.

Maddux and Kleiman (2000) define and explain the five (5) different ways that influenced self-efficacy
beliefs from the ideas of Albert Badura, a professor and a psychologist.

 Performance Experiences – if you are good at achieving your specific goal, then you probably
think that you will achieve it again. When the opposite happens, if you fail, you will often think
that you will fail again.
 Vicarious Performances – if others achieved their goal or specific task, then you will come to
believe that you will also achieve your goal.
 Verbal Persuasion – it is when people tell you whether they believe or not on what you can do
or cannot do. The effect of your self-efficacy will depend on how that person matters to you.
 Imaginal Performances – When you imagine yourself doing well, then it will happen.
 The Affective States & Physical Sensations – if your mood or emotion (e.g. shame) and
physical state (e.g. shaking) come together, it will affect your selfefficacy. If negative mood
connects with negative physical sensation, the result will be negative. And if it is positive, most
likely the result will be positive.
3. Self and Identity - According to William James, a psychologist, “the self is what happens when I reflect
upon ME.” Dan McAdam, a psychologist, reiterated that even there are many ways on how we reflect to
improve ourselves, it brings us back to these three (3) categories:

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  Self as Social Actor - We are portraying different roles and behaving for every type/set of
people in front of us since we all care about what people think about us. It is practically for
social acceptance.
 Self as Motivated Agent - People act based on their purpose. They do things based on their own
dreams, desires, and planned goals for the future. This, though, is not easily identifiable since it
is self-conceptualized, unless it was shared with us.
 Self as Autobiographical Author - He/she as the creator of his/her own entire life story. It is
about how oneself is developed from his/her past, up to the present, and what he/she will
become in the future.
4. Judgment and Decision-Making – individuals are expected to make a decision on their own. However,
decisions are sometimes done unwisely because of the limited information and intuitions without basis.
Poor decision making can become a habit.

Bazerman and Moore (2013) suggested the Six Steps on How to Make a Rational Decision:
1. Define the Problem;
2. Identify the criteria necessary to judge the multiple options;
3. Weight the criteria;
4. Generate alternatives;
5. Rate each alternative on each criterion; and,
6. Compute the optimal decision

Activity 2.2 Knowing the indicators that affect you is the instrument to help you meet and embrace your true
being. Who you are, what you do, and what you have been are the reasons why you are unique. Share your
answers to the following questions. Write your answer on a separate sheet of paper.

1. Who are the people that make you feel confident?

2. What makes you doubt yourself?
3. How do thoughts of other people affect your mood?
4. What is the biggest decision you have made in your life? How did that decision ended up affecting your
being?

Activity 2.3 Ask your family members on what they think about you. Get to know yourself better by looking
through other people’s lenses. Write at least three (3) responses for each.

What am I What are my What makes What makes

good at? weaknesses? me angry? me happy?

III. ASSESSMENT:
Assessment 1: Write your answer on a separate sheet together with the other activities. Use separate sheet of
paper.

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1. Write three (3) important points you have learned from the lessons.
2. Write two (2) major points you need clarification with/you need to ask questions for.
3. Write one (1) thing you wanted to learn/expect to learn from this course.

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