Asclepias
Diamond Member
Again you show that you dont know what you are talking about. If praise hobbled children and they became addicted how is it that all my children have excelled/are still excelling? How is that children I have worked with are excelling? Wouldnt they be emotional, non excelling wrecks by now?Its obvious you have never researched the issue. Your claim that self esteem is a bad thing is ignorant and alarming for someone that claims to educate children. Without self esteem people doubt they can do anything. If you doubt yourself then you have difficulty learning.Never thought of it like that but yes I am a teacher. Not credentialed which doesnt mean much because I have seen and experienced some scrub ass teachers I dont care what you are here to tell me. I know differently as I pointed out I have teachers in my family and as friends. Scrub teachers that are jaded are the ones that are not continually amazed with how gifted children are. Amazing teachers will always talk about how amazing children are.
You didnt have to say it. Your belief that all children are not gifted directs your philosophy regarding the students. Hence you hold them back by virtue of your beliefs. I dont have to do any research on self esteem. I have plenty of evidence that teaching self esteem results in amazing individuals.
No what you have is a front row seat for are children that were taught to break down at the mere hint of adversity. Self esteem teaches you to kick adversity in the ass. it teaches you to overcome obstacles by virtue of the fact that you cant be stopped unless you quit. Like my favorite rapper says.
"I realize I was supposed to reach for the skies.
Never let somebody try to tell you otherwise."
-Black Thought
Well the propensity to not be open-minded and not want to learn aka "I don't care what you are here to tell me"...tells me a lot. You know what credentialed teachers do? We research. We learn. We pay attention not only to what makes children "feel good" but to what actually WORKS. And you know what works?
Not mindless "self esteem" stroking. And that is the research. The research states that the more you stroke their self-esteem with no cause, the less fit for adversity they are.
Do.
The.
Research.
Again, read what I said. I never said "self esteem is a bad thing", I said the self esteem MOVEMENT has been a failure, which is undeniably has. Any teacher with good instincts probably could have told you this from the beginning. It turns out that telling children how glorious and wonderful they are before they have achieved anything is crippling. Of course you tell them you love and care about them; that's not the issue. Of course you believe in them. Also not the issue. You don't give them empty praise for no reason. That IS the issue. You don't needlessly inflate their "gifts", which they can smell through anyway. That IS an issue.
There is a body of research on this. I'm sorry you haven't availed yourself of it. I need a few more creds to begin posting links, but you can begin looking up the research by Roy Baumeister.
"It turns out that telling children how glorious and wonderful they are before they have achieved anything is crippling."
This is why I say you dont know what you are tallking about. Turns out that if you tell children how wonderful and glorious they are long before they face a challenge they have the confidence to excel. There is a body of research on this and plenty of evidence in everyday life to back it up. I'm pretty sure you are unaware of this because you are poor teacher.
They have SOME confidence to excel, and then become addicted to the empty words. And then they become hobbled, or "crippled" by the empty praise, and turn out depending on IT more than, say, actual achievement. That's why we have a generation showing up at new jobs wanting employee-of-the-month and other attaboys before they have achieved a single blessed thing. They do not understand nor value the absolute soul-deep satisfaction of a job well done for its sake alone. They have been robbed of it by a generation of dopey parents and teachers who stood above them and cooed constantly.
And btw, I'm not just a good teacher; I'm considered a Master Teacher with many awards who has been nationally published. You might consider this post why, in fact, because I use my summers researching and not just swallowing the pabulum of whatever the culture is spitting out. And the Self Esteem Movement is absolute, fad-culture pabulum that has yielded devastating effects.
No need to tell me you are a master teacher. Its obvious you lack credibility so I cant believe you. Dont waste your time trying to convince me either.