Abstract
M.Ed.
Next to the school the parental home plays a dynamic role in the formation of the
learners' self-esteem. The learner with mental-disabilities very often has a long
history of disappointments and failures. In the teaching process teacher use words
such as "stupid", "unwilling", "silly" and "lazy" when they refer to learners with
mental-disabilities. The actions of teachers are very often characterized by
impatience and fury. Even in special schools such remarks as "he's too lazy to
think", "she does not want to use her intellect" and "you can forget about it
because you'll never get it right".
Against this background the aim of this study was to investigate the self-esteem of
the learner with slight to moderate mental-disability in the special school. At the
same time investigation of learners in the mainstream school with no mental disabilities
was made.
The quasi-experimental research method was used to collect data. This approach
made it possible for the researcher to examine the comparisons between the
various groups and also to identify possible similarities and differences.
A structure questionnaire, in Afrikaans and English, was used to examine the self-esteem
on eight different scales. These self-esteem scale includes the physical
self-esteem, the experience of frustration, the relationship with the family and
extended family, the social relationship of religion, self confidence and the
academic self-esteem.
The questionnaire was given to 924 learners of which 419 learners were mentally disabled
and in special schools, while the other 505 learners had no disability and
were from the mainstream schools.
The analysis and interpretation of the data yielded the following results: Teachers
that are involved with the education of the grade 10-learners with mental disabilities
have to pay more attention to minimize the increase of frustration experiences
that these learners are experiencing.