Bandura writes with a little bit of flair, and I like that. This is all very interesting to me, because the issue of why people do what they do is basically the fundamental human question. I intend to read this over again before class, but at this point I'm not entirely sure if I think Bandura is any closer to an answer than anyone else.
I did like his discussion of self-esteem versus self-efficacy. I think this is an important distinction to make. It seems to me that we spend a lot of time and worry on students' self-esteem. One thing I've noticed is that teachers, being the polite people they are, often shy away from telling a student they are wrong about something. Clearly, there are instances where the "wrong" isn't really possible, but I think students might benefit by an occasional honest "no." Being wrong about something doesn't have to hurt one's self esteem OR their sense of self-efficacy. It may hurt the former, but not if the students is in environment where wrong is not necessarily inferior. It will improve the latter if the student learns the error in their thinking and corrects it.
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