What world do these teachers live in.
Which games are deemed safe and self-affirming? The National PTA recommends a cooperative alternative to the fiercely competitive "tug of war" called "tug of peace." Some professionals in physical education advocate activities in which children compete only with themselves, such as juggling, unicycling, pogo sticking, and even "learning to ... manipulate wheelchairs with ease."
It gets much worse in the article's description. I saw this one linked at QandO originally. They were appropriately appalled by this report.
Man, it's gonna be a real shock to some of these kids when they turn 18, and they are faced for the first time with a boss who doesn't care about their fragile feelings, and doesn't give two hoots about their self-esteem.
In the real world, self-esteem comes from accomplishing difficult things, and it's something you obtain yourself. Not only does can one else give you self-esteem, they don't care if you have it. In the real world, "good try" doesn't cut and "close" only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.
Maybe for teachers, where tenure gives them permanent employment, and they get summers off, life is a warm fuzzy cocoon, with sensitive, caring colleagues. The world most of us live is just isn't like that.
This article is just another jaw dropper. It makes one realize how much time parents really will need to spend to recover from the incompetence of the teachers that are guiding the next generation.
3 comments:
Oh, that's the lady that wrote "One Nation Under Therapy." I saw her and her co-author on CSpan one day. They were great and the book sounds fantastic. They related a story where after the tsunami, some American therapists got people to donate money to fly the therapists out to the devastation with coloring books so the kids could deal with their grief. Not food, therapy. Not shelter, therapy.
I tell ya, these types of teachers would FREAK at what goes on in our dojo, where the kids as young as 5 are taught that yes, in fact, there are winners and losers and pain in the world.
You are correct sir.
Not all teachers are like that. Few of my kids teachers (only first grade so far) have been of the "everybody wins" philosophy.
However, you have to admit, there are a healthy number of these types of people running loose in the halls of schools these days.
Please note that my post starts with a comment about "these teachers." I don't paint all teachers with the same brush. The type of teacher specifically noted in this article I find loathsome.
Failure maybe ok, but one shouldn't be given a pat on the back and a prize for failing. Protecting feelings to this level is ludicrous. The person that succedes should be congratulated the most and awarded the most. The loser should feel a certain amount of shame, but not to any level near the point of diability. This is what the real world is. The sooner kids understand that the sooner they can get on with succeding.
By teaching kids that winning or losing has the same result, or just not exposing them to competition, ensures that they will have difficulty adjusting when they need to or they will just be failures. But hey, that's ok here in the school of the purple pen and juggling silk scarfs.
Post a Comment