The Feel-Good Curriculum: The Dumbing-Down of America's Kids in the Name of Self-Esteem

by Maureen Stout

Book Overview

The so-called self-esteem movement-a progressive, child-centered, discovery model of schooling-has transformed schools into therapeutic clinics and teachers into counselors, creating a generation of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0738202576
• ISBN13: 9780738202570
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Da Capo Lifelong Books
• Length: 313 Pages
• Weight: 1.32 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.4" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Hits the Nail on the Head! But is Anyone Listening?

This book is ABSOLUTELY accurate when it comes to how the self-esteem movement has turned our schools away from academics and the gathering of knowledge. Instead, what we now have in place of safe, well organized places where knowledge can be taught, are amateur therapy clinics. I got into the teaching game late in life, in my late 30's. I liked kids (still do; most of them anyway) and realized that it was through the efforts of a few good teachers that had taught me that I knew anything academic outside of the blue-collar world in which I was raised. My father had to leave school while in 8th grade in order to go to work, my mother was a (reluctant) high school graduate, and they both , especially my father, constantly stressed the importance of education to me as I grew up. In school, I started out as a promising student, only to end up a goof; the kind of kid I see a lot of; able, but largely unmotivated. Therefore, I have large gaps in various areas of knowledge, which, to this day, I am trying to fill. At any rate, when I decided to go back to get my teacher certification in reading, which is not one of the areas I am weak in, I was amazed at some of the utter nonsense being taught by my college professors that I was expected to believe. I already had a BBA in business administration, and had substituted for several years from K-12, but to hear so called "experts" saying that to grade papers using red ink could be harmful to a child's psyche, that female teachers should never wear open toed shoes because of a phenomena called "toe cleavage," that turned on adolescent boys, that tests shouldn't be difficult because every child DESERVES to be successful regardless whether they have done anything to achieve said success or not, etc., was almost too much to absorb! There were times I had to almost pinch myself in order to realize that these things were really being said, and were meant to be taken seriously! I have spent years trying to teach kids things that, I know from experience, they will be expected to know in order to be considered literate adults; fighting every single day against the "I am entitled to a good grade because I am ME" attitudes the self esteem movement has created, but I am afraid that it is a losing battle, because the self esteem movement has become the ESTABLISHED way of teaching (and indeed THINKING) the past 30-40 years. Teachers like myself are considered "troublemakers" when all we are trying to do is the job of educating our kids so that they can compete in the real world with kids that ARE literate, and that DON'T think that they are ENTITLED to make a living regardless of whether they can do the job or NOT! This book lays it all out and tells it like it really is; and it is NOT a pretty picture.

A Clear and Present Danger.

This book was first published in 2000 (hardcover). And you would think by now that Dr. Stout's inside report on the danger of the self-esteem curriculum would have resulted in drastic improvements in public education in America. Unfortunately, that has not happened. Just before I wrote this review (June '06) I searched the Internet for "self-esteem curriculum" and received 6,320,000 hits. Clearly, the problem remains. Writing with candor, compassion, wit, and a slight liberal slant - I would disagree with her views on national healthcare, the Second Amendment, and her citing the Matthew Shepard murder as an example of a homophobic hate crime (which we now know was not the case) - Dr. Stout is, on the whole, fair in her presentation. She provides a rare glimpse into the mysterious world of teacher education. And what she reveals is a world of professionals so wrapped up in their own ideas and theories that they are unable (unwilling?) to recognise the devastation being wrought on the nation and its children. School as therapy centre has produced (and continues to produce) literally thousands of young Americans who are pathologically self-centred, hedonistic, anti-intellectual, unable to cope with the demands of life in the real world, and unwilling to accept the responsibilities that come with living in a democratic society. And as a result that society is at increasing risk of disintegration as these individuals enter adulthood and assume positions in education, business, and government. My main criticism of Dr. Stout is her failure to recognise that morality and virtue (which she strongly supports) must have a more substantial foundation (i.e., God) than merely the collective agreement of society. After all, the 1960s saw a generation of college students openly rebel against society and its mores and morals in large part because they saw no basis greater than society, no absolute foundation, upon which those mores and morals rested. In conclusion, the problems Professor Stout identifies have only grown in the six years since her book was published as has the need for parents and other concerned citizens to pay heed and take action before this nation degenerates into anarchy, barbarism, or, in response to those, totalitarianism. This is a book all Americans should read because the problems identified therein are a clear and present danger to the nation, perhaps the greatest danger we are currently facing. We ignore them at our own peril.

I may be dumb but I feel great!

When how I feel about my accomplishment overshadows the reality of that which is accomplished, we are in trouble as a society. Such it is with education. We have ceased to teach for knowledge and are more concerned about the "feel-good fuzzies". America is rapidly falling behind and more money is not the answer but joins the "self-esteem" group as a part of the problem. This book will make one very uncomfortable and even angry if you believe that what we are teaching our kids is "world class".

I wish all teachers and parents would read this book!

I am a college student and a mother, and I planned on using a particular section out of this book for a research paper I was doing on young girls and self-esteem. I started reading it and could not put it down. This book had so many brilliant points, I found myself cheering on Dr.Stout at every turn of the page. I am always reading different parenting books (along with all my school textbooks!) and I found this to be so enlightening on how to view the education my kids are receiving. Our kids are capable of so much more than we ever give them credit for (or at least the schools ever give them credit for) and we need to set a higher standard. Thanks Dr.Stout for an incredible book!

Excellent

If you are interested in how the self-esteem movement has insinuated itself into the public school system, this is the book for you. Unlike other books about education, this one is thoroughly engaging, well-written, and even amusing. Particularly interesting, is the chapter on teacher training. Having survived the ordeal myself, it was truly a relief to read that I was not alone in being appalled by the relentless focus on self-esteem, making sure the kids are "having fun", and the importance of not behaving in a "teacherly" fashion; after all, we are there to "facillitate learning", not stand infront of the class and actually say something. The silent majority of parents, who are outraged by the wholesale rejection of traditional education, needs to stand up and make their objections known. The classroom has become a gong show.