--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, I am the eternal <l.shad...@...> wrote: > > My teacher friends in Ireland, Scotland and Texas tell me this article > describes what's going on in their school. > > I have no idea what goes on at the Maharishi School but I can tell you > that I never, ever want to be near a TM brat. The kid screams, cries, > screams and I never hear even "hush".
I don't know what age you are talking about here. But in my experience this is not a TM thing. This is how this generation is raising their kids all over America, kid centric lives. We'll have to see how it turns out. > > http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/7943906.stm > > Page last updated at 16:56 GMT, Saturday, 14 March 2009 > > > Warning over narcissistic pupils > By Katherine Sellgren > BBC News, at the ASCL conference > > The growing expectation placed on schools and parents to boost pupils' > self-esteem is breeding a generation of narcissists, an expert has > warned. > Dr Carol Craig said children were being over-praised and were > developing an "all about me" mentality. > She said teachers increasingly faced complaints from parents if their > child failed a spelling test or did not get a good part in the school > pantomime. > Schools needed to reclaim their role as educators, not psychologists, she > said. > Dr Craig, who is chief executive of the centre for confidence and > well-being in Scotland, was speaking at the Association of School and > College Leaders conference in Birmingham. > She told head teachers the self-esteem agenda, imported from the > United States, was a "a big fashionable idea" that had gone too far. > She said an obsession with boosting children's self-esteem was > encouraging a narcissistic generation who focussed on themselves and > felt "entitled". > They (schools) are not surrogate psychologists or mental health professionals > Dr Carol Craig > "Narcissists make terrible relationship partners, parents and > employees. It's not a positive characteristic. We are in danger of > encouraging this," she said. > "And we are kidding ourselves if we think that we aren't going to > undermine learning if we restrict criticism. > "Parents no longer want to hear if their children have done anything > wrong. This is the downside of the self-esteem agenda. > "I'm not saying it's of no value but you get unintentional consequences." > > Since 2007, there has been a statutory responsibility on schools in > England to improve pupils' well-being and primary and secondary > schools are increasingly teaching social and emotional skills. > Indeed it is possible that Ofsted inspectors will soon appraise > schools' performance in this area; and well-being could be one of the > measures used in the school report card system that the government > wants to introduce. > But Dr Craig told head teachers that this was not the role of schools. > "Schools have to hold out that they are educational establishments," she said. > "They are not surrogate psychologists or mental health professionals." > Learning about feelings from a professional in a classroom did not > send out a positive message, she added. > And she warned there was a danger the more schools taught emotional > well-being, the less parents would take responsibility. > "We run the risk of undermining the family as the principal agent of > sociability," she said. >
