orum of a social studies course, laden as it is with societal and group interaction implications, has suited it to becoming a focus of research. To put it another way, student motivation is an important outcome of positive self esteem, even as properly applied motivational techniques can lead to better scholastic performance. This is the basis for conclusions reached by Curtis and Shaver after the successful application of a remedial social studies course program aimed at increasing the self esteem of diagnosed slow secondary school students. While the degree of intellectual challenge was an important feature of the course design, they found that "anticipated positive feedback from significant others" (which can be seen as an aspect of extracurricular social integration) was also important (Curtis and Shaver, 1981, p. 220).
In a preschool, elementary, secondary, or college educational environment, the ability to learn with relative ease is frequently associated with the ability to integrate socially. Conversely, slow learners may have difficulty integrating into the extracurricular social mainstream, or those who are socially isolated in the educational environment may have difficulty learning. Such issues, all related to the question of self esteem, have been explored in different ways by researchers and educational practitioners. A Canadian kindergarten social studies curriculum deals specifically with the relationship between student performance and self esteem. The units of study are designed to help the student make a connection between himself and the society in which he will have to function. The units are titled "Myself and Others," "My School and Its Neighborhood," and "Changes in Me and My World." Beginning with the relationship between one's psychology and body, the scope of study is gradually enlarged so that the focus is increasingly social in nature. Increasingly complex self discovery is designed to illustrate to ...