Shiny Happy People

Optimism in general, I'm fine with it.  Stiff upper lip, look on the bright side, and all that good stuff.

Optimism in education, now that I can't stand.  One of the major commandments in the Church of Education is "Thou shalt not find fault with any child, no matter what."  Doesn't matter what the child is doing (or more often, not doing), you has a teacher are supposed to find something to complement.  "Oh look, Johnny is showing off his creativity by setting fire to the classroom.  Let's give Johnny a high five for his imagination as we line up to evacuate."  More than one administrator has admonished me for not giving 8 positive comments for every negative one.   What a bunch of bullshit!  Nobody in the real world does this.  Okay, not true, there are people in the world who do this.  They are called brown-nosers, suck-ups, yes-men, and other fruitier phrases.

It has gotten to the point where teachers cannot say anything negative to their students out of fear of permanently crushing their egos.  Let's get one thing clear, egos are not made of spun glass.  They will not shatter if spoken to critically, loudly, or even (shudder) harshly.  Egos are made of far stronger stuff.  Even the egos of children.

How do I know?  Outside the classroom, these same precious snowflakes participate in a myriad of activities, including highly competitive sports.  The coaches and tutors these kids interact with give plenty of constructive criticism; they want to get the highest performance out of their players.  As a private teacher, most of my comments are critical, but highly constructive.  "Play softer to get a better sound." "All quarter notes in one piece are the same length.  You made your life difficult by making these quarter notes into eighth notes." "More air.  Twice as much air as you think you need." Are a small sampling of the ones I used last night.  Do you think parents would hand me thousands of dollars per year if I was making their children miserable?  No, I don't either. 

And let's face it, kids see right through all the forced compliments and always have.  Remember Holden Caulfield?