Return-Path: <nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id f54KD1f10066; Mon, 4 Jun 2001 16:13:01 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 4 Jun 2001 16:13:01 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <3B1BEAE7.8A3C0C14@ellijay.com> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: Art LaChance <arthur@ellijay.com> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-LD:3462] Re: FW: Humiliating Awards Ceremony at School X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.7 [en] (Win98; I) Status: O Content-Length: 4106 Lines: 77 I try to resist presenting awards to adult literacy students because of this phenonema. I resist picture boards for students who achieve. I resist anything that singles out any adult student who "does better" than the others. Why? Mainly because it points out to the students who don't achieve once again that they are not able to keep up, or they're not good enough etc. People who do achieve know they are capable. Presenting them with an "Award" is redundant for their purposes and has the reverse effect for those who don't get the awards. Try this on. Next time one of your children receive an award, look into the eyes of their brother or sister, or a friend who didn't receive an award, and calculate the degree of damage done to that child's selfworth. Take this to the bank. Most adult students have a negative emotional history connected to "recognition" that will reinitialize itself -every- time the situation comes up. Yes we all love recognition and the feel good that comes with it, but frankly I don't know of anybody that does the "work" so they can get a certificate of recognition for it. Other than the major certificates that is. And I know a whole bunch of folks that have negative emotional responses when a classmate gets an award, regardless of what it was for. We as a society have lost the bubble on how to help a child maintain an intact selfworth througout their "learning" years which is loaded with opportunity to make mistakes and "fail". We're too busy, so we integrate an "Awards Program" to take up the slack, and lose sight of the impact on those who just don't meet up to the demands of the awards program. High school diplomas, GED's, college diplomas, fire fighting school diplomas, etc are the end result of long term work, and should be recognized. But if we're to present awards like some of those listed here in other posts, we'd better be prepared to do one of two things 1) present the exact same award to everybody or 2) provide counseling for those children who weren't "recognized". We stopped giving awards to children in our family literacy program early when we determined that it had a very negative effect on the non-achievers. About six years ago, I nominated an adult student for a state award. She was eliminated in the third round of interviews. Two weeks later she finally returned to the center to tell me, in tears, how sorry she was that she didn't win, for me. That was the last time I saw her. She was crushed, and nothing I was able to do or say could take away her pain. I don't hate many things, but I truly hate awards programs. Art Art LaChance Gilmer Learning Center Ellijay, GA Woods wrote: > Elizabeth Gifford wrote: > > It is remarkable that educators can be so uninterested in children's > > need for self-respect. > > It is said that teachers affect eternity. I, too, am troubled about the > effect of some well-meaning, but unthinking teachers and schools. Glenn's > contribution is a particularly ugly example, but I think many more subtle > everyday examples show that acceptance and respect are rare and precious > commodities in schools. In my view this is, by far, the largest, deepest, > most pervasive problem in all of public education. I don't think we should > make teachers should bear the brunt of the blame. It reaches into every > segment, from curriculum design, to standards, to mandated testing, to > special education, to teacher accountability, to "raising the bar," to > teacher training, to discipline, to having high expectations. Teachers, > students, parents, administrators, school boards, departments of education, > politicians, and taxpayers, all of us are caught up in a vicious cycle. To > solve this problem I think we will have to go right down to the very bedrock > of our educational traditions. We will have to find ways to accept each > person for who she or he is, and help each person form and pursue > educational goals while not interfering with the choices she or he makes. Of > course, schools as we know them, are not set up to work this way. > > Tom Woods
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