First+draft

First draft- Unit 2 Assignment

An aggregation of factors determine whether a student learns. Among other things, a student requires a certain level of innate intelligence, strong encouragement from family, financial support, personal motivation, effective teachers, and a positive learning environment. Another factor that plays an important role in education is self-esteem. Gloria Steinem once said, “Self-esteem isn't everything; it's just that there's nothing without it,” and surely this applies to education. A student cannot learn if they do not have the confidence in themselves to believe that they //can// learn. Other variables in education may be improved (newer textbooks, for example), but if a student maintains a low level of self-esteem, he may never reach his full potential. Without a strong foundation of self-esteem, a student cannot be expected to gain knowledge. Educators have asked: What is the role of self-esteem in a student’s education? How does it function in how he learns? Does a teacher have a responsibility to spend on time improving an individual’s self-esteem? Would an attempt to do so be worth the effort? I argue that a teacher must be aware of--and work to improve--the level of self-esteem that a student has in order to teach effectively. Ignoring a student’s personal needs or shortcomings does not help him. A teacher should be able to identify a student with low self-esteem and tailor a pedagogy that builds his confidence as a student. Often, this requires individual attention for the student to improve his self-worth and to have him view himself as a valuable individual. Self-esteem, a term that is very common in everyday usage, must be clearly defined. Self-esteem, in this context, is an individual’s perception of self-worth. A high level of self-esteem means that a person is highly satisfied with his self-perception. A low level of self-esteem means that a person would give a negative evaluation of himself. Self-esteem is largely developed based on the environment in which a person finds himself. Someone who is consistently encouraged will likely have a higher self-esteem because the person believes that if other people see something valuable in him, then it must be there. Conversely, someone who is in a less supportive environment might not be able to have a positive view on his own self-worth. The psychology research behind the concept of self-esteem is extensive. For the purposes of this discussion, self-esteem will be held to mean an individual’s perception of self-worth. What is self-esteem’s role in the classroom? Why does a student need to have high self-esteem? Does it matter? A counter to the argument in favor of making self-esteem a priority in education is proposed by Maureen Stout in her book, //The Feel Good Curriculum: The Dumbing Down of America’s Kids in the Name of Self-Esteem.// Stout argues that self-esteem has become a pervasive convention that is damaging the educational system. She believed that true self-esteem develops out of success, and not from false praise or encouragement from teachers. She challenges the idea that students should be graded for effort instead of achievement, and criticizes a system that allows unsatisfactory work to be accepted as passable. This lowers the standard for all students in the system, and keeps students from moving beyond mediocrity. Dumbing down a curriculum is not beneficial to students. Some may go further into education than they would have otherwise, but in the long run, they have not learned as much as they should be held accountable for. Stout writes that teachers should develop their students’ self-esteem, but not the expense of learning, which is the real purpose of a school. In addition, she warns that over-inflating a child’s self-esteem can inadvertently lead to narcissism, a word that does not carry the positive connotation that self-esteem does. Bolstering a child’s efforts when he does not deserve the praise is not beneficial. So how, then, does a teacher know when they are building a child’s self-esteem and when they are giving praise that is undeserved? If, as Maureen Stout claims, it is harmful to over-applaud a student at some point, how can a teacher avoid doing it? It is clearly a difficult balance. A teacher wants to strengthen a student’s self-worth, but should neither lower the overall standard to accept unsatisfactory work, nor over-praise a child to the point that he becomes self-absorbed. How can this be done? Perhaps the risk of over-inflating a student’s self-esteem requires us to take another look at the idea that improving self-esteem is a good method. Maureen Stout’s argument basically forces an evaluation of self-esteem in the classroom. However, before we listen to Stout and throw self-esteem out of the classroom, we need to understand her point of view. Stout is an //American// educator, and in her book she discusses the //American// system of education. Her argument may be limited to that system. Stout may be entirely correct when she says that sheltering a student from failure and inflating his self-esteem is a harmful pedagogy. But she has only studied American students, and in a larger context, her argument may not be true. Students outside of America have an educational experience largely different from those who grow up in the richest country in the world. For example, a child schooled in the American public school system may have more resources than a child attending school in particular parts of Central or South America. Of course, this is a generalization; there are perfectly satisfactory schools in Central America, and there are unsatisfactory schools in the United States, but on the whole, it can be said that a child in an American school is better off than a child growing up in Central America, especially in the poorer areas. So, then, can the same educational tactics be applied to an entirely different culture? The problem that Maureen Stout cites is likely not the case in Central America. These children, particularly in the poorer regions, are not likely to be spoiled or have over-inflated self-esteems. These are the very children that need positive reinforcement as students in order to learn. In an environment where there is greater need, such as a poor region of Central America, teachers must recognize that students need to have their self-esteem raised before they can be expected to fully learn. This is where Stout’s criticism of self-esteem building does not apply. How does self-esteem function in the classroom in a place like Central America? An example of an educational initiative that weaves self-esteem into its framework is called Children Beyond Our Borders (CBOB). Founded in 2003, this program provides support for impoverished children in Latin American countries, mainly through education. This program, started in Columbia by Luis Felipe Garcia and Angelica Suarez, is relatively new, but its growth is impressive. The two founders, both raised in Columbia, attended college at the University of Florida in the United States. Having grown up in a conflict-ridden impoverished area, they both wanted to give back to the country where they had grown up. The program grew from the Columbia Student Organization at the U of F sending goods to Columbia, and developed into an educational iniative in Medellin and Cartagena, two cities in Columbia. Columbia has been consistently plagued by violence and unrest. Angelica Suarez says that after growing up near Medellin, she was surprised to come to Florida and not see men with firearms in the streets. South America’s longest running armed conflict has been taking place in Columbia since the 1960s. The town of Medellin, made famous by the Columbian drug lord Pablo Escobar, has been considered one of the most dangerous places in Columbia because of its involvement in the cocaine cartels. In fact, the United States government considered Medellin so dangerous that it shut down its consulate in 1981 for security reasons. Obviously, the violence and unrest has had a dramatic effect of the citizens of Columbia. The current government of Columbia, which is a democratic republic, been adversarial with both left-wing insurgents and right-wing paramilitaries. Although in the last ten years the violence has been decreasing, there are still guerilla groups that threaten the stability of the country, and the citizens are exposed to violence. Another problem that plagues the citizens of Columbia is that of poverty. Like many Latin American countries, a small percent of the population controls a large majority of the money, and the rest of the population lives in poverty. The rural areas of Columbia are the worst in terms of poverty. This is certainly where education takes a hit; when there is a threat of starvation, many students choose to leave schools to find ways to support their struggling families. The education system in Columbia does not have enough resources to keep students in school, and the system is not working. This is where Children Beyond Our Borders has attempted to help improve the conditions of children living in Columbia. CBOB uses strengthening self-esteem as a tenant for their mission. One of their main projects, called “One Child at a Time,” aims to interact with the individual student on a one-on-one basis. According to CBOB’s website, this goal is accomplished by the following means: Creating individual profiles that tell the children's stories Maintaining quarterly progress reports that allow CBOB to track the child's social-behavioral, psychological, and academic school performance Recognize individual birthdays as a means of meeting the child's individual needs (i.e. personalized attention to build self-esteem and assist with an area of struggle in school) Encourage the children to express themselves through journaling to provide a healthy outlet for their emotions Acknowledging each student as an individual is critical to the mission of the CBOB program. Perhaps this is so important in the particular societal context of the program; the backgrounds that most of the students come from are not pleasant. These children have experienced hardships that the average American elementary school child has not experienced. Therefore, the needs of a student at CBOB are probably greater than the needs of an American child. A child in Latin America might have a lower self-worth due to the environment in which they live. Therefore, the argument that Stout makes against over-inflating self-esteem does not apply the students at CBOB. These students //require// more personal attention to build up self-esteem. The culture difference between education in the United States and in Columbia must be accounted for. It would be too simple to make a blanket statement like “Teachers should build up students’ self-esteem as much as they can,” or even one like “Students today have high enough self-esteem; teachers should challenge them, not baby them.” Both of these statements would not account for the varying environments where the students have been acculturated.