EARLY ADOLESCENT SELF IMAGE: AN EXAMINATION OF A TEACHER/ADVISOR PROGRAM (GUIDANCE, HOME BASE, PESONALIZATION).

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a teacher/advisor program on early adolescents' perception of self image. A review of the literature revealed much which proclaims the virtues of the teacher/advisor program but at the same time demonstrated an absence of any significant research which verifies that such programs, in fact, accomplish what their proponents claim. Because a notable amount of research supports the inclusion of educational experiences which heighten self image, determining specifically what effects a teacher/advisor program has would satisfy the need to validate the credibility of this concept and aid middle level educators in assessing its value. A pretest-posttest control group design with multiple measures of self image was employed. The sample consisted of 145 seventh grade students from two middle level schools. The experimental group came from a 6-7 school with a total of 73 students participating, 37 male and 36 female. The control group came from a 7-8 school with 72 students participating; both males and females numbered 36. Subjects were administered a questionnaire, which was composed of seven self image or transition research, at the beginning of the fall semester and again nine weeks later. Subjects in the experimental group received a thirty minute per day teacher/advisor program during this time interval. The findings of this study revealed significant group effects for the measures of victimization and perceived self image. For the measures of anonymity, self-consciousness, and the three self-esteem measures, however, group effects were not observable. Furthermore, examination of the results using gender as a variable showed no significant difference in any of the seven self image constructs. The data indicate that participation in a teacher/advisor program tended to suppress perceptions of victimization, which can be construed as a positive effect, and to lower perceived self image, which can also be viewed as beneficial if construed as a more realistic occurrence.