The Educational Importance of Self‐Esteem

Some philosophers of education have recently argued that educators can more or less ignore children's global self‐esteem without failing them educationally in any important way. This paper draws on an attachment theoretic account of self‐esteem to argue that this view is mistaken. I argue that understanding self‐esteem's origins in attachment supports two controversial claims. First, self‐esteem is a crucial element of the confidence and motivation children need in order to engage in and achieve educational pursuits, especially in certain domains of instruction such as physical education. Second, self‐esteem can be facilitated socially, through an appropriate arrangement of school institutions, thus without hindering the pursuit of other high priority aims such as a challenging academic curriculum. Consequently I maintain that educators who ignore self‐esteem overlook something educationally important.