SK> -> *3   SELF-ESTEEM THEORY:  WHY IT'S FAILING OUR STUDENTS
SK> ->    Black children are particularly at risk from self-esteem
SK> -> theory and curricula that dominates many public schools, writes 
SK> Nina
SK> -> Shokraii, director of outreach programs at the Institute for 
SK> Justice.
SK> -> "Black children are common targets of self-esteem
SK> -> theory, which in their case often goes by the name of
SK> -> Afrocentrism," she notes.  Yet, all children suffer from a self-
SK> -> esteem theory that denies them the "tools they will need in order 
SK> to
SK> -> experience true success in school and as adults."
    Did you see "60 Minutes" on Sunday?
    Shokraii is right.  Kids don't become better prepared for success as 
adults by indoctrinating them with questionable "facts" about how their 
ancestors knew how to fly, instead of teaching them the 3 Rs.
    Black kids are the only group I know of that has been victimized in this 
way in public schools.  (I can only imagine the reaction of Jewish parents if 
their kid came home from school telling them how he was being taught similar 
"history" instead of what it would take to do well on the Medical College 
Admission Test!)
SK> ->    Shokraii lambastes self-esteem theory in a policy brief
SK> -> issued by the Center For Equal Opportunity, headed by Linda
SK> -> Chavez.  She explains the two self-esteem types described by
SK> -> psychologists:  earned self-esteem, which people earn through
SK> -> their own accomplishments; and global self-esteem, which refers to 
SK> a
SK> -> general sense of pride in oneself that is "not grounded in a
SK> -> particular skill or achievement."
    Which makes "Afrocentric education" particularly disastrous for the 
inner-city kids most often subjected to it, since they are not even members 
of a group with a particularly high accomplishment to feel good 
about...perverting any drive for _individual_ achievement.
SK> ->    Shokraii concludes that "it is time to stop touting the
SK> -> importance of self-esteem and start providing students with the
SK> -> elements real self-esteem is made of."  
    Like preparing those kids to do well on the MCAT!
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