Saturday, May 13, 2006

Self Esteem.

From Thomas Sowell's Inside American Education:

an international study of 13 year olds found that Koreans ranked first in mathematics and Americans last. When asked if they thought that they were "good at mathematics," only 32% of Korean youngsters said "yes"- compared to 68% of American 13 year olds.


The moral is- There is nothing particularly praiseworthy about unmerited self esteem. There is a lot more good stuff in the book and I intend at some point to compare his descriptions of the excesses of American teachers Unions to the recent threats and tantrums by some of Britain's.

5 comments:

Grizzly Mama said...

Oh honey - this is right up my alley. You may want to check out Cubed's excellent series on education and jihad. Great information about the American public education system.

It is being taught in our schools that 'self esteem' is when everyone likes you. That is not true, is it?

Congrats on your new blog. In my scatter-brained world I will continue to try and remember to come back to visit. Good luck!!

Ross said...

P Pandar, I was referring to the threat by the National Association of Headteacher's to boycott tests, and encourage parents to join them, not the lecturers strike. Although come to think of it, it does sound like students such as yourself are being punished for something you have no control over.

Monica, thanks.

Anonymous said...

Good luck Ross

It reminds of that chilling reference

"Mr Jones carried out all his responsibilities entirely to his own satisfaction"!

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.