Speaker 1

Self-Awareness
I. OBJECTIVES

1. Review “The STRONG” Virtues.

2. Realize the need of knowing oneself.

 Reasons why self-knowledge is important.

1. It serves as a guide for one’s actions and lends strength to one’s character.
CASE IN POINT: A child asks for a chocolate bar. He desires it because of two
things—he knows how chocolate tastes like and second, he knows he likes the taste
of chocolate. In this case, the child had to know what characterized the object that
he liked and what he liked. These two simple things dictate a child’s choices and
actions. As one grows into adulthood, a different rule begins to guide him. More
than what he likes or does not like, he begins to consider the ultimate good. He
considers what is for the common good and what is merely good for him; what is
pleasurable and what gives joy; what is right and what is wrong. These form his
beliefs and values. It is by knowing what he believes in, what he values and why he
values them, that one’s gains conviction. It is this conviction that guides one in
making the right choices. This also lends strength to his character.
2. It allows one to make productive use of his strengths and weaknesses.
Since adolescence brings with it, new opportunities, challenges and experiences,
being aware of oneself enables one to hone and make productive use of one’s
strengths. It also keeps one from frequently committing unnecessary mistakes.
Knowing one’s weaknesses allows one to know what to handle, what not to handle
and how to deal with them.
3. It helps one to develop into a mature and responsible person.
Knowing one’s roles and responsibilities also helps one to be the person that he
must be. In recognizing one’s roles and responsibilities, one grows into becoming a
mature adult. His character becomes more defined as he strives to fulfill his
responsibilities well. By doing this, he also gives justice to the roles that he has
been given or to those that he has undertaken. Lack of knowledge of one’s roles and
responsibilities makes one aimless. This also opens the tendency towards idleness
or the pursuit of bad habits. Speaking in the voice of adolescents, a teacher of
adolescents once wrote: “Knowing who we really are will make our journey of
adolescence more successful. We will be able to stabilize our emotions, learn how
to be independent, know what we believe in and most of all, we will become the
kind of adults that we have the potential to be”.
4. It helps one put things in the proper perspective.
A person, if he is not doing what he must be doing at the moment, even if he is
doing a good job, misses out on a lot of things. Knowing one’s priorities and
concerns at the moment helps one put things in the right perspective. It gives one a
base, from which he will decide where to go next. The knowledge of where one
 wants to go and what one wants to do—his goals and aspirations—give his life
direction.

 Things that one must know about oneself

1. Belief and Values

Beliefs -things a person holds or accepts as true.

Values- ideals which cherishes and prioritizes.

2. Strengths and Weakness

Strengths- talents, skills and capabilities.

Weaknesses- tendencies which may hinder one’s achievement of goals.

3. Roles and Responsibilities
Role- A function that one has as part of a group.

Responsibilities- duties that one has to do.

4. Goals, Ambitions and Aspirations

-keeps one on track
-gives one sense of direction
* without goals, ambitions and aspirations makes one aimless and leads one to a life
of trial and error.
5. Priorities and Limitations
-must be consistent with roles and responsibilities
-that can be done and that need to be done
-time and place

How does one know oneself?

1. Identify and live core values, priorities and principles that determine choices and
decisions
2. Acknowledge strengths and weaknesses and undertake necessary steps to take to
minimize weaknesses and leverage strengths
3. Be constantly guided and inspired by a vision
4. Design activities that lead to a desired future state
5. Reflect on personal experiences and particular reactions to them
6. Study intentions for doing things
7. Consider the admonitions and opinions of others
SPEAKER 2

I. OBJECTIVES

1. Draw something that represents oneself and be able to explain it.

2. Discuss important concepts about self-knowledge such as a.) why is it necessary to know
oneself b.) what one must know about oneself and c)how to acquire self-knowledge
3. Complete a chart of personal beliefs, aspirations, strengths, weaknesses and influences.

STRATEGIES & METHODOLOGIES

 Ask your students to draw something that describes them or captures their personality
 Ask them to write 3-5 sentences that explains why they chose their drawings and why it describes
them.
 Ask a few volunteers to share their work.
  Lead them to a discussion of the importance of knowing oneself. Likewise, guide them to a brief
discussion of what they must know about themselves, and how they can know themselves better.
(Use the points brought up in Talking About the Lesson).

Note: It would be good to write the students’ ideas on the board. This will help facilitate a livelier
discussion. This will also give them an example of openness and will help boost their confidence in their
ideas.

Guide Questions:

1. Describe a life without self-knowledge. What are possible things that may happen?
2. What are the benefits, implications and consequences of knowing oneself?
3. What must a person know about himself?
4. Give examples of opportunities where a person can know himself more?
5. Is there an end to knowing oneself?

STRATEGIES & METHODOLOGIES

 Introduce the Coat of Arms. Explain it to them using the instructions given below. Let this be
their homework. A more graphic representation can be found in the section, Bringing the lesson
Home.
 NOTE TO THE TEACHER: On the last day of this 10-day module, your class should come up
with a presentation that ties up all the concepts imparted in the previous nine lessons. They
should also come up with a Notes of Experience (i.e. a document, which contains all their
learnings, discoveries, and mistakes while doing the project). In line with this, you must divide
them into three groups. These groups should meet up and collaborate throughout the duration of
the module. For more details, see lesson 10 (Tying Things Together).

CORE IDEAS

1. To make good judgments and decisions, it is important to know oneself. Thus, in fairness
to myself and to those around me, I have the obligation to know myself.
2. I become aware of myself by studying the things that happen to me and how I react to
them, by studying my intentions for doing things, by reflecting on the admonitions and
opinions of others, and by learning from them. To learn means to use my experience in
guiding my future decisions and actions.
3. Self- knowledge is bolstered by asking credible and mature persons for their guidance
and counsel. This requires docility (i.e. carrying out the advice given as one’s own) and,
intellectual humility (i.e. recognizing one’s capacity to commit mistakes and to learn
from others).
4. Guided by my conscience, my parents, my teachers and my experiences, I form my
beliefs and own the values that were taught to me. These beliefs are grounded on the right
moral principles. I must be sensitive to those ideas, which support my beliefs and values
and those, which go against them.
5. I have natural strengths and weaknesses. To carry out my responsibilities, I have to make
my strengths productive (so I can make good use of them) and my weaknesses irrelevant
(so they do not get on the way). This implies having to know myself well, to be aware of
my strengths and weaknesses.
 6. My concerns change at different levels of my life. I have to be aware of my priorities at
the moment. I must do them well and keep in mind their contribution to my pursuit of my
goals and aspirations.

Speaker 3

I Try to Remember
Everybody Doesn’t Have to Love Me

Not everybody has to love me or even like me. I don’t necessarily like everybody I know, so why
should everybody else like me? I enjoy being liked and being loved, but if somebody doesn’t like
me, I will still be okay and still feel I am an okay person. I cannot make somebody like me,
anymore than someone can get me to like them. I don’t need approval all the time. If someone
does not approve of me, I will still be okay.

It Is Okay to Make Mistakes

Making mistakes is something we all do, and I am still a fine and worthwhile person when I
make them. There is no reason for me to get upset when I make them a mistake. I am trying, and
if I make a mistake, I am going to continue trying. I can handle making a mistake. It is okay for
others to make mistakes, too. I will accept mistakes in myself and also make mistakes that others
make.

Other People Are Okay and I Am Okay

People who do things I don’t like are not necessarily bad people. They should not necessarily be
punished just because I don’t like what they do or did. There is no reason why other people
should be the way I want them to be, and there is no reason why I should be the way somebody
else want me to be. People will be whatever they want to be, and I will be whatever I want to be.
I cannot control other people or can change them. They are who they are; we all deserve basic
respect.

I Don’t Have To Control Things

I will survive if things are different than what I want them to be. I can accept things the way they
are, accept people the way they are, and accept myself the way I am. There is no reason to get
upset if I can’t change things to fit my idea of how they ought to be. There is no reason why I
should have to like everything. Even if I don’t like it, I can live with it.

I Am Responsible For My Day

I am responsible for how I feel and what I do. Nobody can make me feel anything. If I have a
rotten day, I am the one who allowed it to be that way. If I have a great day, I am the one who
deserves credit for being positive. It is not the responsibility of other people to change so that I
can feel better. I am the one who is in charge of my life.

I Can Handle It When Things Go Wrong

I don’t need to watch out for things to go wrong. Things usually go just fine, and when they
don’t, I can handle it. I don’t have to waste my energy worrying. The sky won’t fall in; things
will be okay.

It Is Important To Try

I can. Even though I may be faced with difficult tasks, it is better to try than to avoid them.
Avoiding a task does not give me any opportunities for success or joy, but trying does. Things
worth having are worth the effort. I might not be able to do everything, but I can do something.

I Am Capable

I don’t need someone else to take care of my problems. I am capable. I can take care of myself. I
can make decisions for myself. I can think for myself. I don’t have to depend on somebody else
to take care of me.

I Can Change

I don’t have to be a certain way because of what happened in the past. Every day is a new day.
It’s silly to think I can’t help being the way I am. Of course I can. I can change.

Other People Are Capable

I can’t solve other people’s problems for them. I don’t have to take on other people’s problem as
if they were my own. I don’t need to change other people or fix up their lives. They are capable
and can take care of themselves, and can solve their own problems. I can care and be of some
help, but I can’t do everything for them.

I Can Be Flexible

There is more than one way to do something. More than one person has had good ideas that will
work. There is no one and only “best” way. Everybody has ideas that are worthwhile, and
everyone has something worthwhile to contribute.
Speaker 4

My Declaration of Self-Esteem

OBJECTIVE:

 Write own declaration of Self-Esteem

STRATEGIES

1. Explain “What I am is good enough if I would only be it openly.”

2. Answer “How can I prepare myself for a fulfilling life?”

I am me.

In all the world, there is no one else exactly like me. There are people who have some parts
like me but no one adds up exactly like me. Therefore, everything that comes out of me is
authentically mine because I alone choose it.

I own everything about me – my body, including everything it does; my mind, including all
my thoughts and ideas; my eyes, including the images of all they behold; my feelings, whatever
they might be – anger, joy, frustration, love, disappointment, excitement; my mouth and all the
words that come out of it- polite, sweet, or rough, correct or incorrect; my voice, loud and soft;
and all my actions, whether they be to others or to myself, I own my own fantasies, my dreams,
my hopes, my fears. I own all my triumphs and successes, all my failures and mistakes.

Because I own all of me, I can become intimately acquainted with me. By so doing, I can
love me and be friendly with me in all my parts. I can then make it possible for all of me to work
in my best interests.

I know there are aspects about myself that puzzle me, and other aspects that I do not know.
But as long as I am friendly and loving to myself, I can courageously and hopefully look for the
solutions to the puzzles and for ways to find out more about me.

However I look and sound, whatever I say and do, whatever I think and feel at a given
moment in time is me. This is authentic and represents where I am at that moment in time.

When I review later how I looked and sounded, what I said and did, and how I thought and
felt, some parts may turn out to be fitting. I can discard that which is unfitting and keep that
which proved fitting, and invent something new for that which I discarded.

I can see, hear, feel, think, say and do. I have tools to survive, to be close to others, to be
productive, to make sense and order out of the world of people and things outside of me.

I own me and therefore I can engineer me.

I am me and I am okay.

SPEAKER 5

BRINGING THE LESSON HOME

OBJECTIVE:

 Make a personal Coat of Arms.

STRATEGIES
 1. Describe Coat of Arms
2. Answer the following questions to make your personal Coat of Arms

Quadrant 1: How would you describe your life at the moment? Use words or symbols to portray
your life as you see it. You may go to nature, the underwater world, space, or any other worlds to
graphically present your view of life presently.

Quadrant 2: What/Who are the three most important persons or things in your life?

Quadrant 3: What do you consider your major strengths and weaknesses?

Quadrant 4: What are your dreams and hopes for the future?