Self-esteem vs. achievement

My career as an educator started in the late 1970's, the same time that the self-esteem movement emerged. I was very old school and believed that self-esteem would develop with real and measurable achievements. Every one is capable of achieving realistic goals which help create a real sense of self worth. Over the years, I encountered many students who had been praised for being. Because of past educational experiences, they did not believe that it was necessary to achieve anything, the mere fact that they had arrived at school was enough and they did not always have to be on time. These praise junkies could be very belligerent if criticized for lack of real achievement and accomplishment. A adjunct to the issue of self-esteem was the practise of project centred learning at the elementary level. Students would be praised for working well with others, cooperating- both good skills but there seemed to be a failure to asses the final product. Process is definitely important and students need to be taught how to create the final product and with out parental help but the final assessment should consider the product and also that is was actually completed with real and definable goals.

Friends who had just arrived from Europe did not understand the self-esteem movement when I discussed it with them. They believed self-esteem would come from achieving and producing real results.

Researcher, Ellen Greenberger, ( has found that most students at the university level who have been taught under the auspices of the self-esteem movement do not understand that actual achievement is the most important measure of what their marks should be not just attendance and that the mark is not just a reflection of effort.

It is surprising that this research has just been done. I guess that it has taken time for this movement to spread across the continent and for its impact to be felt at the post-secondary level. Hopefully, educators examine the impact of the self-esteem movement and will start expecting children and others to actually produce results, encourage them to enjoy the process of learning and achieving at what ever level they are capable of reaching, and have them realize that not every one's results are the same despite the same effort.

We are different and have different skill levels which can be modified with time and effort. 10,000 hours of practise of a skill are needed for a level of excellence at any skill; time and dedicated effort are needed.