The development of the self-concept from differing theoretical perspectives.
Assessment Rationale / Aims:
To enable students to understand how the self-concept develops in personal, social, and cultural contexts. To facilitate exploration of the person-centred perspective of the development of the self-concept through conditions of worth
Learning Outcomes for the Assessment:
Discuss a range of personal, social, and cultural relationships in which the self-concept develops
Examine the person-centred perspective of the self-concept
Examine development of own self-concept
Discuss the potential impact of person-centred counselling on conditions of worth
The Brief (general description of the coursework requirements)
A 2500 word essay which examines the development of the self-concept in a personal, social, and cultural context including appropriate personal experiences and knowledge.
Introduction
Summarise what you will cover in your work
Suggested word count 150 words
(LO1)
The first section of your essay will look at a generalised view of the self-concept including the factors that may impact self-concept development. Students will be engaged in seminar groups in the module to examine different factors which may affect the development of self-concept and these groups will provide students with material to examine these influences in their essay.
The areas which students will examine in seminars are:
Education
Culture
Family
Media
Social Networking
(Seminars will be for 45 minutes – 30 minutes for the Seminar and 15 minutes for questions)
Suggested word count – 650 words
(LO2)
You will need to discuss in depth the person-centred perspective of the self-concept. This will include original ideas and also the more modern perspectives such as the concept of configurations of self – mainly advanced by Mearns and Thorne.
Suggested word count – 650 words
(LO3)
In this section you will be writing about the development of your own self-concept. Usually in academic writing you include your own life experiences and knowledge which make up about 10%-15% of the work. In this essay you may feel it is appropriate to write more to cover this outcome.
Suggested word count – 250 words (if you want to include more here, reduce your word count in other sections)
(LO4)
Show your understanding of the potential impact of person-centred counselling in relation to conditions of worth. Ensure that you include Rogers’ original ideas and his thoughts on the necessary and sufficient six conditions of therapy
Suggested word count – 650 words
Conclusion
Include your key findings from the work. Refrain from adding new content to a conclusion, this should only be what you have already written about in summary form.
Suggested word count – 150 words
Important things to remember when writing your essay
Address all of the learning outcomes given at the top of the brief. Failing to do so will result in you failing the assignment.
Use the correct format for writing academic essays – more on this below.
Your work needs to include academic references to theory from published literature. This may include citations and/or direct quotes.
You will be given a hand-in time and date for your essay. Please contact the tutor team if you think you will not be able to meet the deadline to discuss possible alternative arrangements.
Assignments need to be submitted online. It is your responsibility to ensure that you submit the correct version of your work by the deadline.
Theory Essay Format
All essays need to be presented as word processed documents.
Put the title of your essay at the top of the first page.
The recommended font sizes for all written assignments are 11/12 and the commonly used fonts are, Arial, Times New Roman and Calibri.
Essays should be double spaced with pages numbered and your student number included in the header or footer.
Avoid using Bold print to highlight any part of your essay.
A word count must be included at the end of your essay – direct quotes are not included in the word count.
You have a 10% margin either way (+/-) on the word count.
At the end of your essay include a reference section for all sources that you have quoted directly/indirectly in your work.
You should utilise the Harvard reference system.
Any quotes of more than one or two sentences used in your assignment should be in italics and indented.
