January 30th, 2012
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The Wall Street Journal did a piece on another uncomfortable reality for the Progressive movement. The "Self Esteem Movement" isn't working.
"A growing body of research over three decades shows that easy, unearned praise does not help students but instead interferes with significant learning opportunities. As schools ratchet up academic standards for all students, new buzzwords are "persistence," "risk-taking" and "resilience" - each implying more sweat and strain than fuzzy, warm feelings" (Chandler, 2012).
"In an oft-cited 2006 study by the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution, U.S. eighth-graders had only a middling performance on an international math exam, but they registered high levels of confidence. They were more likely than higher performing students from other countries, such as Singapore and South Korea, to report that they "usually do well in mathematics" (Chandler, 2012).
Progressive assumption #1; high self-esteem should be promoted in people no matter how undeserving.
The self-esteem movement began in 1986 and was the product of Democrat California assemblyman John Vasconcellos. The whole idea was to increase childhood self-esteem as a way of improving society. California created the Task Force to Promote Self-esteem, Personal and Social Responsibility and the idea grew throughout the American education system like a virus moves through Paris Hilton.
Progressive assumption #2; the fundamental human concern for others' welfare makes progress possible.
This is a common dangerous liberal assumption that allowed school boards across the country to adopt deeply flawed policies. Because the teachers believed the cause of improving the self-esteem of children is so altruistic, no one questioned the idea behind it. Their good intentions did not create a good outcome.
The value placed on intention over consequence is also seen at the core of Progressive economic philosophy. The road of massive spending and massive entitlements leads to major problems yet Progressives still push for more government spending out of a misguided concern for human welfare. It's a nice idea that the rich can pay all the taxes and the people who work hard but just don't make as much can get a break. It does not matter to Progressives that the outcome ends up hurting more people than they intended to help.
Progressive assumption #3; bad human behavior, such as violence, is the product not of flawed people but of evil institutions that encourage people to act selfishly and to harm others.
The Progressives may be right on this one. Progressive institutions are cultivating violent and selfish behavior. In Florida State Professor Roy Baumeister's book, "Evil: Inside Human Violence and Cruelty," he discusses the correlation between criminals and self-esteem.
"Violence ensues when people feel that their favorable views of themselves are threatened or disputed by others. As a result, people whose self-esteem is high but lacks a firm basis in genuine accomplishment are especially prone to be violent, because they are most likely to have their narcissistic bubble burst" (Baumeister, 1996).
This is exactly what the Self-esteem Movement of the 80's and 90's promoted, high self-esteem without accomplishment.
Some Progressive wack-pie had a breakthrough in therapy in the 80s and now an entire generation of Americans is filled with over-confident violent criminal idiots. That sounds about right.
~RC
Works Cited
Baumeister, R. (1996). Evil: Inside Human Violence and Cruelty. New York: W.H. Freeman and Co.
Chandler, M. A. (2012, January 15). In schools, self-esteem boosting is losing favor to rigor, finer-tuned
praise. Retrieved January 29th, 2012, from The Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/in-schools-self-esteem-boosting-is-losing-
favor-to-rigor-finer-tuned-praise/2012/01/11/gIQAXFnF1P_story.html