increasing children's self-esteem

Status
Not open for further replies.

keannu

VIP Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Korean
Home Country
South Korea
Current Location
South Korea
I can't understand the underlined. Does it mean even underachievers can be relieved just to know their skill level? Is it because understanding your skill level comes before its being high or low according to his argument?

st214
ex)Educational psychologist Dian Horgan raises the interesting point that a better understanding of one's skill level is not necessarily the result of greater skill. Instead, the causation can run in the other direction: Realistically understanding your skill level might help you improve by enabling you to adjust your expectations, properly gauge feedback, identify your strengths and weaknesses, and so on. If you are overconfident in your ability, you may also be less motivated to improve it. After all, you "know" that you are already good, so you don't need to practice more. "These considerations should give pause to supporters of increasing children's self-esteem as a comfort for educational underachievement."
 
Last edited:

5jj

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 14, 2010
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
Czech Republic
Current Location
Czech Republic
The underlined sentence means that Dian Horgan's ideas should raise doubts in the mind of those who support the idea of jncreasing children's self-esteem in order to give some comfort for low achievement at school.
 

keannu

VIP Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Korean
Home Country
South Korea
Current Location
South Korea
Thanks, so as I said, is it because his argument is that understanding your level is more important than your actual skill? So even low-level achievers can be relieved with knowing their level?
 

5jj

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 14, 2010
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
Czech Republic
Current Location
Czech Republic
Thanks, so as I said, is it because his argument is that understanding your level is more important than your actual skill? So even low-level achievers can be relieved with knowing their level?
No. Low achievers should not be encouraged to think that they are good, because this may remove their motivation to attempt to improve.
 

SoothingDave

VIP Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2009
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
Thanks, so as I said, is it because his argument is that understanding your level is more important than your actual skill? So even low-level achievers can be relieved with knowing their level?

There is a completely misguided school of thought common in schools of education that believes that children do well when they have high self-esteem.

So they think teachers should try to boost student's self-esteem regardless of the student's performance.

They fail to understand that self-esteem comes from achievement, not the other way around.
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
This ludicrous attitude has been borne out in British schools for a few years, with competition practically being banned. Many schools abandoned sports competitions because, by definition, if there is a winner, then there must be a loser. It was deemed by some namby-pamby liberal wishy-washies, that causing a child to believe (s)he is a loser, (s)he will suffer some dreadful emotional trauma. What they failed to realise is that if you don't teach kids at a young age that they can't win at everything, they are going to wonder what on earth is going on the first time they apply for a job and receive a rejection letter.
 

SoothingDave

VIP Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2009
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
"Everyone gets a trophy" is a shorthand for this attitude.

Or holding soccer games but not "keeping score." Like the children involved do not know how to count.
 

konungursvia

VIP Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2009
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
English
Home Country
Canada
Current Location
Canada
Okay, but there is a difference between holding some events in an 'everyone-gets-a-trophy' manner, to make those few events more comfortable, and saying all children's activities should take place in this way. I don't see a problem with the philosophy, provided it isn't blindly and universally implemented, which I don't think it really is.

Teachers who actually evaluate children (and who aren't of the old-fashioned ilk that confuse the classroom with a gladiator's arena) know that their job is to encourage progress by giving some sort of appreciation with every step taken.

Only foolish adults lay it on thick; on the other hand, imagining every evaluated task is a mock O-level where the hard knocks score must be written in red is unnecessary.
 

keannu

VIP Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Korean
Home Country
South Korea
Current Location
South Korea
Thanks a lot for your great analysis, and just one last question, I won't ask you any more. What does this mean?
"the result of greater skill" doesn't come to my mind easily because if you have a greter skill, then you may already understand your level. What did the author try to say about "greater skill"?

"a better understanding of one's skill level is not necessarily the result of greater skill."
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top