ABSTRACT
One of the major assumptions of the interactionist approach is that human beings invest things with meaning and thereby convert them into social objects. The self-concept is learned and develops out of the mass of interpersonal interactions which bombard the individual from infancy. The development of self-concept proceeds from a concrete view of self to a more abstract one. The knowledge that children acquire about themselves occurs primarily through social relationships. At school they receive many opportunities to evaluate their abilities and skills, and a major perspective of the self-concept is the 'other self'. With infants and young children parents are presumed to be the most important significant others, as they satisfy basic needs and convey messages of love, acceptance and security. A pupil may judge himself to be a good reader, very good at maths and information technology, interested in science but not so good at art or drama.
