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DanaC · 03-19-2009, 01:41 PM

What, that it results in narcissistic kids? Depends on how competently the theory is implemented. It certainly doesn't have to. I think the theory is sound, but the practitioners havent been consistent in the application of it. Even if it does have that effect, it's probably better than churning out large numbers of kids with a stunted sense of their own worth, which was a feature of the old system imo.

[eta] as a kid I didn't 'fit in' much with my peers. I was bullied badly, by kids and in a few instances by teachers. It was my good fortune to be naturally academic, naturally able to excel in areas that tended to bring in merit stars and high scores. I got lots of praise, for things that actually came very easily to me. I didn't have to work at reading and writing, I didn;t have to work at spelling or adding up. It all came to me like swimming to a duckling. Being praised for that stuff had a dual effect ( I believe). Firstly it mitigated some of the damage my education was doing to my self-esteem (I never had self-esteem problems until the bullying kicked in around the age of 7 and had never been 'shy'). Secondly, it taught me a very dangerosu lesson: it taught me that I could skate through on natural ability and still win acclaim...bad, very bad. Acclaim becomes much harder to find when the work gets harder and the work ethic you should have learned never quite got through :P

The praise they heaped on me for hitting full marks on every spelling test was unearned. The kid who sat up half the night with his mum learning words that just wouldn't stick and managed somehow to get 7 of 10 right; he deserved that praise and acclaim.

At the same time, I was not very sporty. I didn't have good hand to eye coordination, though I had a belter of a rounders hit when I was on target and could throw a ball long distances. I didn't really like being active with all the other kids. The teachers who taught us games and sports cold have brought out of me some kind of appreciation of sports: instead they completely reinforced my self-image as 'not physical'. If I tried and didn't succeed, I was lambasted and mocked, or simply disregarded. Must be how some kids felt in English and maths. If I could be so moulded by that experience to the point that I still hate sports, what abot the kids who were being mocked or disregarded, or bullied and harangued when it came to the basics, like reading and writing?

03-19-2009, 01:41 PM	#5
DanaC We have to go back, Kate! Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Yorkshire Posts: 25,964	What, that it results in narcissistic kids? Depends on how competently the theory is implemented. It certainly doesn't have to. I think the theory is sound, but the practitioners havent been consistent in the application of it. Even if it does have that effect, it's probably better than churning out large numbers of kids with a stunted sense of their own worth, which was a feature of the old system imo. [eta] as a kid I didn't 'fit in' much with my peers. I was bullied badly, by kids and in a few instances by teachers. It was my good fortune to be naturally academic, naturally able to excel in areas that tended to bring in merit stars and high scores. I got lots of praise, for things that actually came very easily to me. I didn't have to work at reading and writing, I didn;t have to work at spelling or adding up. It all came to me like swimming to a duckling. Being praised for that stuff had a dual effect ( I believe). Firstly it mitigated some of the damage my education was doing to my self-esteem (I never had self-esteem problems until the bullying kicked in around the age of 7 and had never been 'shy'). Secondly, it taught me a very dangerosu lesson: it taught me that I could skate through on natural ability and still win acclaim...bad, very bad. Acclaim becomes much harder to find when the work gets harder and the work ethic you should have learned never quite got through :P The praise they heaped on me for hitting full marks on every spelling test was unearned. The kid who sat up half the night with his mum learning words that just wouldn't stick and managed somehow to get 7 of 10 right; he deserved that praise and acclaim. At the same time, I was not very sporty. I didn't have good hand to eye coordination, though I had a belter of a rounders hit when I was on target and could throw a ball long distances. I didn't really like being active with all the other kids. The teachers who taught us games and sports cold have brought out of me some kind of appreciation of sports: instead they completely reinforced my self-image as 'not physical'. If I tried and didn't succeed, I was lambasted and mocked, or simply disregarded. Must be how some kids felt in English and maths. If I could be so moulded by that experience to the point that I still hate sports, what abot the kids who were being mocked or disregarded, or bullied and harangued when it came to the basics, like reading and writing? Last edited by DanaC; 03-19-2009 at 01:56 PM.