Page 139 - Ana Kozina and Nora Wiium, eds. ▪︎ Positive Youth Development in Contexts. Ljubljana: Educational Research Institute, 2021. Digital Library, Dissertationes (Scientific Monographs), 42.
P. 139
char acter strengths of first-year student teachers and the 5 cs ...
to Competence according to the students, e.g. “I feel good and also do well
when I feel that I have good relationships with others, when they can rely on
me and I can rely on them”.
Fairness was identified as a strength that can help “resolve conflict and
establish compromise”. Students were aware that “if you achieve something
when you are fair, you should be proud of yourself and your success”. The stu-
dents’ responses reveal Perseverance as an important character strength for
all three domains of Competence: “It helps me not to give up in my relation-
ships with friends and colleagues at work even when there are difficulties”. In
the academic domain, Perseverance helps students “set a certain study goal
and persevere until it is achieved”.
Confidence
According to the students, the character strengths that can help them the
most to be more satisfied with themselves, to feel self-worth and self-con-
fidence were Love (36.9%), Gratitude (30.0%), Bravery (20.8%), Kindness
(20.0%), Spirituality (16.2%) and Appreciation of beauty (15.4%). The least
recognised strengths, related to Confidence, were Social intelligence and
Teamwork (both 2.3%), Perspective (0.8%) and Love of learning (no men-
tions) (Table 2).
Students indicated that, in the context of Confidence, they found the
role of Love (36.9%) important, especially “love of self ”. This character
strength helps them to “love [themselves] as [they] are” because “if you love
yourself, you can love others”. However, they also recognised the role of Love
in relationships with others: “If I saw that I was as important to my closest
people as they are to me, it would make me more satisfied with myself ”.
The second most commonly identified character strength in relation
to Confidence was Gratitude, which can help students “notice more things
[they are] grateful for in life and consequently notice more of [their] successes
and begin to appreciate [themselves] more”. Students acknowledged the im-
portant role of Gratitude while faced with negative thoughts about them-
selves, e.g. “when I’m stuck with negative thoughts about my body and my
weight, I remind myself that my body keeps me alive and healthy, gives me
energy so I can run or do something else. And then I become grateful and lov-
ing of myself ”.
Bravery was also identified as an important character strength for
building students’ self-confidence – it helps them ‘activate’ their inner
strength: “Courage would help me to dare to say, try and do more things”.
139
to Competence according to the students, e.g. “I feel good and also do well
when I feel that I have good relationships with others, when they can rely on
me and I can rely on them”.
Fairness was identified as a strength that can help “resolve conflict and
establish compromise”. Students were aware that “if you achieve something
when you are fair, you should be proud of yourself and your success”. The stu-
dents’ responses reveal Perseverance as an important character strength for
all three domains of Competence: “It helps me not to give up in my relation-
ships with friends and colleagues at work even when there are difficulties”. In
the academic domain, Perseverance helps students “set a certain study goal
and persevere until it is achieved”.
Confidence
According to the students, the character strengths that can help them the
most to be more satisfied with themselves, to feel self-worth and self-con-
fidence were Love (36.9%), Gratitude (30.0%), Bravery (20.8%), Kindness
(20.0%), Spirituality (16.2%) and Appreciation of beauty (15.4%). The least
recognised strengths, related to Confidence, were Social intelligence and
Teamwork (both 2.3%), Perspective (0.8%) and Love of learning (no men-
tions) (Table 2).
Students indicated that, in the context of Confidence, they found the
role of Love (36.9%) important, especially “love of self ”. This character
strength helps them to “love [themselves] as [they] are” because “if you love
yourself, you can love others”. However, they also recognised the role of Love
in relationships with others: “If I saw that I was as important to my closest
people as they are to me, it would make me more satisfied with myself ”.
The second most commonly identified character strength in relation
to Confidence was Gratitude, which can help students “notice more things
[they are] grateful for in life and consequently notice more of [their] successes
and begin to appreciate [themselves] more”. Students acknowledged the im-
portant role of Gratitude while faced with negative thoughts about them-
selves, e.g. “when I’m stuck with negative thoughts about my body and my
weight, I remind myself that my body keeps me alive and healthy, gives me
energy so I can run or do something else. And then I become grateful and lov-
ing of myself ”.
Bravery was also identified as an important character strength for
building students’ self-confidence – it helps them ‘activate’ their inner
strength: “Courage would help me to dare to say, try and do more things”.
139
