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The gushing, smarmy and ill-considered praise so often heard in school classrooms and on athletic fields is finally getting a bit of a reality check.
Self esteem as a concept...is a racket. The garden variety stupids in any society.....show the highest level of self-esteem but make the biggest fools out of themselves and people try in vain to let them know it. The really smart ones are very down on themselves although people like them. (What does THAT say??) The few left over...have it right and half of those are no model for anybody and they don't like themselves and people don't like them either..... and the rest are so-so.... they are mediocre human beings....but they like themselves and people like them. But watch out because given half a chance they will try to propagandize everyone else about why this supposedly magical state can be manipulated, when in fact it is simply a derivative of their relative position in society..they are "good" enough not to feel ashamed but don't stick out too much either. Probably more a measure of success in "conforming" to lukewarm societal standards than any kind of bootstrap maneuver. (See Coopersmith 1960)
The pendulum swings again, and not just in two dimensions.
ReplyDeleteWhen a teacher is enthusiastic, everyone learns better; only foolish or self serving teachers think they've discovered a method and try to promote it.
A educator who believes is there is a method that is one-size-fits all is like a plumber who believes he only needs to carry a pocket tool.
Self esteem as a concept...is a racket. The garden variety stupids in any society.....show the highest level of self-esteem but make the biggest fools out of themselves and people try in vain to let them know it. The really smart ones are very down on themselves although people like them. (What does THAT say??) The few left over...have it right and half of those are no model for anybody and they don't like themselves and people don't like them either..... and the rest are so-so.... they are mediocre human beings....but they like themselves and people like them. But watch out because given half a chance they will try to propagandize everyone else about why this supposedly magical state can be manipulated, when in fact it is simply a derivative of their relative position in society..they are "good" enough not to feel ashamed but don't stick out too much either. Probably more a measure of success in "conforming" to lukewarm societal standards than any kind of bootstrap maneuver. (See Coopersmith 1960)
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