MaxedOutMama
Saturday, January 29, 2005
No Losers Here
Ahem. In case you thought Dr. Sanity was exaggerating about the effects of the self-esteem theory, here's an example of the type of education philosophy the self-esteem movement has generated. In this case, a school system decided to cancel participation in a spelling bee because most of the kids wouldn't win (emphasis added):
Notice that sports teams aren't allowed in that school system either. This is almost an entire educational philosophy by now.
Newman said she and the district's elementary school principals made a unanimous decision to cancel their local competition shortly after the January 2004 event, agreeing that a spelling bee does not meet the criteria of all children reaching high standards, the Woonsocket paper said.One of my brothers who lives in a very liberal area in CA told me that he knows several of his co-workers who have recently pulled their kids out of public schools and decided to homeschool them. It's not because they are offended by what is taught at the school, but because they are disturbed about what their children aren't learning. The purpose of education is to teach, and elementary education is to teach the basic building blocks of education. A supportive environment is important, but not to the extent that you focus more on feelings than education.
She argues that professional organizations now encourage elementary school children to participate in activities that avoid winners and losers, which is why sports teams have been eliminated for that age group.
Building self-esteem is the emphasis.
"You have to build positive self-esteem for all kids, so they believe they're all winners," Newman told the Call. "You want to build positive self-esteem so that all kids can get to where they want to go."
Notice that sports teams aren't allowed in that school system either. This is almost an entire educational philosophy by now.
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That's almost as bad as cancelling Honor Rolls. (Michael Crowley of The New Republic had an article about in the RD a few months ago);
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