Joanne Jacobs
http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | High self-esteem doesn't lead to good social behavior, researchers say. The New York Times reports:
Recently, however, some psychologists have begun debunking the notion that a poor self-image is the malady behind most of society's complaints and bolstering self-esteem its cure.
"D" students, it turns out, think as highly of themselves as valedictorians, and serial rapists are no more likely to ooze with insecurities than doctors or bank managers.
A review of research linked high self-esteem to racist attitudes, drunken driving and other risky behaviors. Apparently, people with high self-esteem are more likely to take the initiative -- but not necessarily in socially desirable ways.
The correction for such an exclusive focus on the self cannot be found in self-esteem classes that encourage children to believe that they are special and that their personal success and happiness are paramount, Dr. (Jennifer) Crocker and other experts argue.
"Not everything is about `me,' " she said. "There are sometimes bigger things that we should be concerned about."
Yet more old-fashioned strategies for making one's way in the world, like learning self-control, resisting temptation or persisting in the face of failure have received little study, in part because the attention to self-esteem has been so pervasive.
"My bottom line is that self-esteem isn't really worth the effort," Dr. (Roy) Baumeister said. "Self-control is much more powerful."
This isn't really new. Fifteen years ago, California set up a task force to study the effect of self-esteem on social problems. Despite the pro-esteem bias, the researchers were unable to find evidence that raising self-esteem will improve academic performance or lower rates of drug addiction, violence, welfare dependency, you name it. Yet the self-esteem movement lives on, its inflated self-image unaffected by evidence.
It's done real damage in the schools. Teachers are told to pump up students' self-esteem without regard to their performance.
I read a self-esteem reader once featuring a badger (or some such rodent-like animal) who was fussing and fretting about going to school for the first time because he couldn't read. Benny Badger finally goes to school, where his teacher assures him that she loves him just the way he is.
1. Your teacher doesn't love you, Benny. Maybe she likes you. Maybe not. But it's not her job to love 20 or 30 kids a year. Ma and Pa Badger love you -- at least I hope so. Not the teacher.
2. Your teacher doesn't think you're perfect just the way you are, Benny. For one thing, you can't read. Her goal is to change you into someone who can read, which is better. Sure, you're cute, Benny. But that's not going to last you forever. You need to improve your skills and knowledge so you can make your way in the uncuddly world.
ANIMAL CRACKERS
Mean Mr. Mustard, a Berkeley blogger, cites a letter from a friend who's getting a master's in education at UCLA:
Two days ago, they played a game where they had to choose one of four animals by going to a corner of the room. Then they had to say how they were like the animal, and how they could interact with all the other animals. Today they made a poster of their feelings.
More than 45 years ago, my mother was taking classes for an education master's. All the prospective teachers had to pretend to be animals in a circus parade. My mother, who was about seven months pregnant, was assigned the role of elephant. She's still a little bitter about that.
Mr. M's father, a principal, was sent to a workshop where educators were forced to sit in a circle and talk about what kind of trees they'd be, if they'd chosen an arboreal career path.
GLITTER
Dorothy Williams writes:
During her M.A. program in linguistics at Cal State Northridge, my daughter was outside a classroom preparing for a presentation. She was going over the statistical correlations on data she had gathered. Next to her, similarly preparing for a classroom presentation down the hall, was a young woman in the education grad program. She was also worried. The glitter kept falling off her poster.
Williams retired from the federal civil service and now teaches part-time in the GED program at the local community college. As a union officer, she attended the state convention.
One of the K-12 teachers was wearing a tee-shirt emblazoned, "What we need are less guns and more schools." The community college teachers just shook their heads. If a K-12 teacher doesn't even know the difference between "less" and "fewer," is it any wonder most of their honors graduates take remedial English when they reach our campus?
What we need are fewer glue guns.
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JWR contributor
Joanne Jacobs, a former Knight-Ridder columnist and San Jose Mercury News editorial writer, blogs daily at ReadJacobs.com. She is currently finishing a book, Start-Up High, about a San Jose charter school. Comment by clicking here.
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