Considering the contemporary ideologies that have permeated into the education system over the years, I wonder if there has ever been one which has impacted educational philosophy with such detrimental effects, as much as our obsessive focus on a child's self-esteem.
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| Image from www.billboardmama.com |
I don't know how 'recent' this change in the system is. I remember early in my primary school days rumours of kids being 'left behind', but not so much in high school. Despite the fact that I knew some of my classmates had failed certain classes, some of them were sitting across from me the following year.
Apparently one of the ideas underpinning this move is the potential damage that the child in question could sustain with regards to his or her self-esteem, or self-image. We don't want to tell a child he has 'failed' out of a concern that he will see himself as a 'failure'. Rather, some would prefer the term 'deferred success' (such was a laughable move by one educational institution some years ago). We are afraid to compare children to one another, because it may mess with their perceived value of themselves in comparison to others. Any benefits derived from the competitive motivation this may inspire aren't considered worth the risk of 'harm'.
The lack of discipline seems to run along a similar vein. 'Discipline damages self-esteem. Discipline shouldn't be necessary. Children really DO want to learn - we just need to create the right environment and it will happen.' Needless to say, anecdotes from a family friend who used to do supply teaching at a public school which followed this framework have left me somewhat unconvinced. Remove the discipline and chaos ensues. But I digress; this piece doesn't intend to focus on the bizzarre ideas driving discipline in schools these days.
So we push our younglings through the education system, despite their performance, remaining determined that their self-esteem is the most important thing.
In that case, what happens when, ten to fifteen years down the track, this self-assured individual discovers that he cannot exercise a basic grasp of mathematics which might enable him to manage his finances? This assumes he can get a job, which he probably can't, because his resume was so full of spelling and grammatical errors, that every employer tossed it aside.
What happens to his self-esteem then? How will his self-assurance hold up in the unemployment line, whilst his competent colleagues are out earning a steady income? Where does he go then? The education system is finished with him.
Those happy-clappy, group-hugging feel-goods who pushed him through the system for the sake of his ego, well-meaning though they may have been, have ended up failing this child. Not just in his education, but in giving him some atrociously misguided expectations about life in the real world. Outside those four walls of the school building, if you are not competent at your job, not only do you not get promoted; you most likely get fired.
So then what of self-esteem? Do we educate an individual to within an inch of his life with no regard for their mental health? Of course not, but let's consider how these humanistic ideologies might be creating the very problems they seek to resolve.
Many children come from broken homes; a large proportion of which may endure physical, sexual and emotional abuse of every kind. Their perceived value of themselves already cops a beating from mum and / or dad, which doesn't get them off to a good start. Likewise, discipline may be minimal, inconsistent or even non-existent. 'Parent's don't discipline their children - that's what school is for, right?' (Sorry Mum and Dad - the teacher's job is to teach.)
The child then spends twelve years of his life in an institution pervaded by atheism, learning a curriculum which reeks of evolutionary thinking like rancid parmesan, under which he learns that he is simply the result of random chance, spawned from the primordial sludge of yesteryears to become "stardust with a conscience" (as one of my past physiology lecturers would say), with no more inherent value or worth than the chair he is sitting on.
We rob our children of the divine truth that they are lovingly created in the image of their heavenly Father, and are shocked when their fragile ideas of self-worth collapse under the assault of the everyday realities of life.
To my colleagues in the teaching profession, you certainly have your work cut out for you. I sincerely hope that God blesses each of you in your endeavours to shape and mould the children of society. You have been called to a service of supreme importance, and may you be encouraged and strengthened daily in your efforts, as you work in an education system such as ours.
I was encouraged by a video on YouTube, taken from a conference in the UK earlier this month. While our system in Australia does not appear to be this bad (although some may disagree), I admired the courage this woman had to speak up about some of the issues which prompted this piece.
Finally, I will leave you with a passage from Gary DeMar's foreword in Douglas Wilson's Letter from a Christian Citizen, in which he quotes C.S. Lewis. I think it nicely captures the frustration many of us feel toward the humanistic ideologies of today:
"We make men without chests and we expect of them virtue and enterprise," C.S. Lewis writes. "We laugh at honor and we are shocked to find traitors in their midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful." We strip men and women of the certainty that they are created in the image of God, and we are surprised when they act like the beasts of the field.
SG
Religion should be kept out of public debate. If she wanted to speak about her experience as a survivor of an abortion, that's fine - her experience provides a perfectly valid argument in the matter. There was no need to bring Jesus Christ into it. What an offense against the secular democracy that is Australia!