IPPN

Published: 06 May 2009

Source: independent.ie

Teachers "obsessed with praising" children are in danger of creating a generation of egotistical pupils. That's the message of a leading child psychologist who argues that school staff and parents feel they cannot criticise their children for fear of upsetting them.

Dr Carol Craig, director of the Centre for Confidence and Wellbeing in Glasgow, claims that the need to be positive all the time leaves pupils with an "all about me" mentality.

Criticism of the praise agenda in education is certainly not fashionable.

But it is likely to win support from many teachers in Ireland.

Susie Hall, past president of the ASTI and a teacher at Malahide, said the dominant philosophy now dictates that everybody is a winner no matter what. "It is counter-productive to tell pupils all the time that they are great in order to boost their self-esteem,'' says Hall.

"It is also important to tell them that life can be tough, and that if they want to succeed in life it requires effort.''

Mothers and fathers now often tell teachers that it is "bad for his self-esteem" if their son fails a spelling test, or that their daughter is left "unhappy" by missing out on a part in the school pantomime, said Dr Craig at a recent conference of college leaders.

She argues that the obsession with self-esteem, which has been imported from the United States, is a "fashionable idea" that has gone too far.

And she is urging schools to reclaim their role as educators, not psychologists.

Primary and secondary schools are increasingly charged with teaching social and emotional skills.

But Dr Craig says: "We are wrong in thinking we have to get the 'I' bigger. If we say to people the most important thing is how you feel about yourself then if a child fails maths and feels bad, it is very tempting for them to blame it on others like teachers and parents.

"Parents no longer want to hear if their children have done anything wrong. This is the downside of the self-esteem agenda.

"The problem is that if you tell parents that it is incredibly important that children feel good all the time, we will get people going out of the way to boost children's self-esteem all the time."

She argues that an obsession with children's self-esteem is breeding narcissism.

"Narcissists make terrible relationship partners, parents and employees.

'It's not a positive characteristic. We are in danger of encouraging this.

"And we are kidding ourselves if we think that we aren't going to undermine learning if we restrict criticism."

The recent conference of college leaders heard how a maths teacher in one school had corrected a pupil who had placed a zero in the wrong place. The pupil replied: "Thank you, but I prefer it my way."

Hall says the situation is not helped by the present cult of celebrity. "Students are obsessed with fame and fortune. They see people winning reality shows, and becoming famous, but these people often have not achieved anything of substance.

"I would not like to return to the days when the self-esteem of young people was demolished, but there is no harm in teaching them that life can be tough," she says

Michael Moriarty, general secretary of Irish Vocational Education Association, says the remarks of Dr Craig are extremely topical because of the current recession.

"We have had a generation that has only known success,'' says Moriarty.

"In many cases they do not know the meaning of the word no.''

Although Moriarty believes that young people will have to adjust to the new environment, he says a positive agenda is hugely important.

He is a believer in the Irish saying: "Mol an oige agus tiocfaidh si'' (Praise the young and they will bloom).

Moriarty adds: "In hard times it is even more important to have a positive outlook in order to give young people hope.

"That is why Barack Obama's slogan, 'Yes, we can', has been so appealing.''