According to Mlodinow, "people tend to recognize that inflated self-assessment and overconfidence can be a problem--but only in others" (199). Mlodinow does not mention it, but this overconfidence is particularly high among American students, if you compare them to students from other nations, like Japan and Korea (click
here to read a 2006 article in the
Washington Post that discusses this phenomenon).
Can you identify any cultural practices that might contribute to this phenomenon in American schools? Is it something that happens mostly in elementary schools or do college also contribute to the same phenomenon?
On average, self-esteem in American school children is rather high, especially compared to other countries. Most people would think if you are confident in your abilities you would tend to do better, but just the opposite seems to be the case. In other countries like Japan or Korea, children tend to score themselves lower in their level of confidence in math but score much higher on a standardized math test than children in the United States who score themselves relatively high in confidence. There could be several different reasons for this.
ReplyDeleteIn America, whether it is in the classroom or on the T-ball field, adults tell children that they are the best; it was the other person’s fault they messed up or it was the teacher’s fault they did not achieve a very good grade. Most children in America are not used to taking responsibility or working hard to achieve a goal. A lot of children already believe they are the best they can be and, therefore, will not try to improve.
In other countries, unity and not individualism is encouraged. The children will work hard to improve so they can benefit their country. Adults tend to tell children they can improve and have not achieved their full potential. Children in other countries will then work harder to try and achieve their best but still are not confident in their abilities because the adults in their lives are always telling them to work harder.
I think this phenomenon generally just takes place in grade school and high school. The teachers of lower level grades do not want to offend any students or parents and will not tell it like it is and will sugar coat the truth. The kids most likely do not benefit from this. In college I can only guess from what I have heard from other people. I think in college the professors will not sugar coat how you are doing in class and if you show up to class and do well in their class then good, if not, too bad.
Erin’s comment explained my views about American children perfectly. I’m not excluding myself from this category, because I have found myself blaming teachers and coaches for my failures as well. As you get older, I believe it is easier to recognize your weaknesses and strength. Considering the amount of times that college students switch their majors, I think this shows that professors are more upfront and fair with the grading than in high school. In high school, teachers will often allow students to redo tests or they will even revoke the scores if the majority of the class did poorly. In my concurrent classes, the teachers left the grades as they were and were honest about whether or not a student should drop the class.
ReplyDeleteThe one cultural practice in America that I automatically thought of when hearing this question was the practice of giving every child on every team a trophy. In little league sports, no matter who wins or loses, everyone gets the same trophy. This may seem harsh, but in life not everyone gets a trophy after every loss or even every win. As an adult not everyone has the same job title, and not everyone receives the same salary (trophy).
Both Morgan and Erin make great points regarding American practices. It is true that in little league sports, every child gets a trophy, just for participating, and in school if you do poorly on a test, you get a re-do. I just wanted to add that in addition to these things, our education in America (up until college) is free. In other nations, they have to pay to go to school, which makes it a privilege. They WANT to go to school. I look at my Facebook page, especially now, when school is about to start, and I see post after post complaining about having to go back. We take for granted our free education, because we think it is our right. Once we get to college and start having to pay for that education, we learn to appreciate it more, therefore we tend to do better. When people don't have to work for anything, as Erin stated, they don't care as much, and therefore don't do as well.
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