Resource 1: A story about self-esteem

Teacher resource for planning or adapting to use with pupils

There were three children who lived in the same village – two boys, Adofo and Yao and one girl, Esi. One day, they all started going to school. Because they were the same age, they all attended the same class, but they reacted in very different ways.

Adofo was clever, and started to do very well at school. He could answer many questions and always got good marks. But because of this, Adofo started to think a lot of himself. He didn’t want to listen to other people’s views. He became arrogant, and thought he knew everything. He was rude to others, and so he started to lose friends.

Yao found school difficult, and didn’t understand some things. But he was afraid to ask the teacher in case he was punished. He fell further and further behind in his studies. Because of this, Yao thought poorly of himself. He thought his classmates were making fun of him. He felt unwanted and thought he was looked down upon by the teacher, and so never talked in class.

Esi enjoyed going to school from the beginning. She liked making friends, and realised she could learn a lot from them. She had good learning abilities but liked sharing ideas with others. She was good at listening to others. Esi had a good sense of humour, but learned not to make too much noise. She could ask questions when it was needed, but knew not to demand attention from everyone.

3. A community project as a source of learning

Resource 2: Types of abuse