Six Ways to Build Self-Efficacy in Middle School Girls (Six Cs)
Written by By Claudia Arellano, Program Engagement Manager
Girls Empowerment Network understands that the difference between cultivating self-efficacy and having self-esteem is important. The distinction allows us to widen the doors and be creative in the ways our activities let girls practice developing their skills and abilities that increase self-efficacy. Her self-efficacy plays a big role in how goals, tasks, and challenges are approached and how she responds to obstacles. Self-efficacy is a crucial prerequisite for girls’ future success because it helps them THRIVE. On the other hand, there is also self-esteem, which we know is the regard or respect that a girl has for herself. We know it is difficult to impact girls’ self-esteem because it changes in response to external factors; it reflects how she views herself in that moment and not necessarily what she may have achieved previously. Our Six Cs approach to increasing a girl’s self-efficacy impacts her goals, achievements, and motivations in middle school and beyond.
We design activities to increase self-efficacy because “efficacy beliefs help determine how much effort people will expend on activity, how long they will persevere when confronting obstacles, and how resilient they will prove to be in the face of adverse situations - the higher the sense of efficacy, the greater the effort, persistence and resilience” (Pajares 1996, pg. 544). The amount of self-efficacy a girl has determines the effort she will put into a class and subject, her resilience after failure and her persistence in the face of challenges. The challenges and opportunities that girls explore with us range from getting an A on a test or overcoming a bully, being the first in her family to go to college or breaking up with an abusive partner. Sometimes girls come to us to explore and learn how they can take care of themselves when they think that no one else will.
To cultivate self-efficacy in girls, we developed activities based on six approaches (or “domains”) that we refer to as The Six Cs: collaboration, communication, critical thinking, creativity, coping skills, and confidence. These activities are included in our Girl Connect programming in elementary and middle schools, our new Spark Kits, and now our online virtual resources created by girl experts on our YouTube channel.
Our dynamic activities in Girl Connect combine two or more of our Six Cs. A great example is our Design Thinking Activity in our Failure and Resiliency Curriculum. In this activity, girls are practicing creativity by creating a ‘design’ based on a goal as they are collaborating with partner, critical thinking as they plan their design, and communication by discussing their plan and design with the partner. Another activity that includes several of the Six Cs is Creating Your Own Brand in our Leadership Curriculum, which is great for middle school girls. They practice plenty of the Six Cs by creatively making their own brand, critically thinking about their brand, communicating it with the group, and showing confidence when proudly sharing with the entire group. In Girl Connect groups, they learn and practice coping skills, whether that is a girl practicing a mantra at the beginning of a virtual group check-in or doing a Guided Meditation from our Stress Management Curriculum.
When schools closed in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we adapted many of our activities to create Spark Kits. Spark Kits are a treasure box of self-guided activities for girls with all supplies that they need. Plus, every Spark Kit includes access to a virtual group check-in online and our Connect line. Girls gain confidence and independence doing activities on their own, and we encourage them to call us if they have questions. Our Connect line also gives girls opportunities to talk about the activities. Some favorites are the Pocket Puff Pals, which promotes creativity and strengthens coping skills. Girls create a Pocket Puff Pal with a found rock and puffed paint, and when they feel stress or anxiety, it is used to redirect their attention, promoting a soothing behavior that increases focus and calms their thoughts. Focusing relieves tension. A new activity in our Back-to-School Spark Kit is the Self-Love Mirror, which comes with a dry erase marker and suggested affirmations that girls can write daily. A journaling activity, The Things I Can Control and Not Control, strengthens coping skills and promotes communication among girls when they come into a group. Everyone has something to talk about, and they listen to each other and see that other girls – especially middle school girls -- face similar situations in their lives.
We also launched new videos and online articles to teach the Six Cs in 2020. For example, Just Because poems foster communication skills, creativity and coping skills. One of my favorite activities is Grit Fish. It reinforces critical thinking skills that move girls toward their goals. In our video Flip the Lid, our girl expert explains how our brains operate under stress in a girl-friendly way. It is also an excellent introduction to building coping skills.
When girls are gaining power and knowledge from the Six Cs, they are gaining power in their academics, as well as their social and emotional skills. We know that when a girl’s self-efficacy in one of these six areas grows, her overall self-efficacy increases. For example, when a girl learns how to communicate assertively, she is more likely to raise her hand to answer a question in her math class. When she learns a new coping skill, she has a new way to calm herself down before taking a test. When we succeed in showing girls how to learn and use these skills, we increase their belief in their own ability to succeed.