Dangerous slogans for education and life
Janusz Maciuba teaches English as a Second Language at a technical college in the Atlanta area. He has written several pieces for the AJC. Here is his latest:
By Janusz Maciuba
In the service of instilling self-esteem in students, teachers and other cheerleaders of scholastic and personal achievement have promoted slogans that are potentially dangerous if taken at face value by students. In fact, some of these motivational mottoes can actually encourage students to drop out of school. I base my observations on teaching 7th and 9th graders and from reading thousands of GED essays, some of which explained why students left school before graduation and what their dreams for the future were.
Here are the top three lies some students believe:
You can be anything you want to be. Yes, you can! With hard work at school or on the practice field or in the orchestra, mixed with talent and luck, the right blend of genes, and teachers and parents who really take an interest in your rise to success, you can be on your way to that happy life.
But, if you can’t spell pediatrician, it’s very unlikely you’ll be one. If you’re 14, short and weigh 90 pounds, the chances of playing for the pros are slim.
My 9th graders really believed in this dream. One day there’s a knock on the door and in a deus ex machina moment the student is plucked from real life and offered a music contract or a chance at professional sports. Generally, the worst students had the biggest dreams. Why study when desire trumps education?
A better and truer motivational message would be the old Army slogan: Be all that you can be. This is much more realistic and directs the student to exploit and capitalize on his natural talents and interests. It tells the student to find a realistic goal and work hard to get there. If he really wants to be a rapper, then he needs to: learn poetry in English class, play an instrument, join the choir, take math so all the big money doesn’t get siphoned off by managers and the inevitable posse, and become a well-rounded person who can control his life and destiny.
Students still believe that almost all the famous rappers came from the streets, when most had a middle-class upbringing. Tupac Shakur, for one, became a gansta later in life and perhaps never had the survival instincts that might have prevented his death.
The next slogan can’t be blamed on teachers but I’m not so sure about football coaches — Never back down. This philosophy shows a lack of critical reasoning and seems to come from a sense of honor learned in video games and movies. This can be a noble gesture at Little Round Top or when facing the Persian army at Thermopylae but, when it comes to school rules, jobs, or life, it is disastrous because the student will expelled, unemployable, and incarcerated. Like Kenny Rogers sings in “The Gambler”: “You got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em.”
The last slogan is: Be a leader not a follower. Yes, break out the black flag of anarchy as all the students set up their own republics. There are times, in real life, to be a leader and other times to be a follower. Knowing the difference is the key.
Everybody engages in some magical thinking — I’m hoping some literary elves finish my novel one night – but it’s usually harmless. The danger is when unrealistic dreams and an inflated sense of character hinder educational progress.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
So, all you motivators think of the consequences of these slogans and explain the pitfalls of taking them at face value. Or, don’t say anything at all.
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110 comments Add your comment
red herring
December 27th, 2012
10:23 pm
back in the early 70’s i was one of the top athletes at a AA high school in georgia–my parents raised me to get an education first –and one year kept me out of spring football because i made a “C” in a class— they believed (and correctly so) that i went to school to get an education first and everything else was o.k. so long as i was getting my education. we need to get back to those values and if nothing else we need to have the schools start to impose them—i can hear screams of “discrimination” now –but it would be best for the children. they also need to understand that not everybody can be a doctor/professor/nurse/lawyer but there is also a great need for other vocations as well— i have never met a decent welder that was out of work. vocational skills are good to learn and children should be taught to consider those areas where they are most likely to meet with success in getting a job and having a good career. my son received a degree in political science and now wonders why he invested so much of his time and money in an education that he will never use. children/young adults need career counseling greatly so that they make wise choices in their education and beginning careers. children’s “interior growth”, etc is fine so long as they are pointed in the direction of a decent job to support themselves while they strive to increase/improve their “interior growth”. i’d rather see a successful welder that became a successful poet later in life than a successful poet who spent 20 years of his life on welfare. kids can “explore themselves”, “know thyself”, etc and take time to do so at their leisure as long as they are prepared to pay for their own gas and groceries while doing so. an education is a wonderful thing but so is a job that pays your bills.
Dr. Socrates
December 27th, 2012
10:43 pm
The most dangerous of these three slogans is “You can be anything you want to be”. Not only does it imply an equality among people that does not actually exist in nature (or forced by law), but it also leads to self-hate when one fails at doing something for which they are not equipped mentally or physically. This one slogan is responsible for more problems than the other two by far. People are not equal. We are all endowed with different genes, born in different environments, born in different socioeconomic strata, and reared in different emotional and psychological circumstances. The political statement that “all men are created equal” does not mean, under any circumstance, that men will remain that way.
chuck
December 27th, 2012
10:51 pm
There’s a snippet about a study done by the author of “Mindset”, Carol Dweck, at this site:
http://blogs.wsj.com/informedreader/2007/02/13/the-praise-a-child-should-never-hear/
Masciuba’s essay is well written but this is by no means a new idea. Educator’s and coaches have been talking about this since this whole “self-esteem is important” movement began. We have a President who was obviously raised in that system. School Districts have made it nearly impossible to tell the truth in parent conferences or allow students to fail. It’s why we as a society are so willing to take money FROM successful people to give TO losers. We’ve created a society of whiners who are devastated when you inform them they have failed, but who are absolutely UNWILLING to put in the work it takes to succeed. That’s what we have come to.
bu2
December 28th, 2012
9:39 am
ALL elementary school boys want to be professional athletes. Elementary kids should dream. In addition to professional athlete I dreamed of being an astronaut, archeologist and secret agent. Kids just need to learn Dirty Harry in middle school, “A man’s got to know his limitations.” And Vince Lombardi-”its not the will to win, its the will to prepare to win.”
janet
December 28th, 2012
3:28 pm
“We are all endowed with different genes, born in different environments, born in different socioeconomic strata, and reared in different emotional and psychological circumstances. The political statement that “all men are created equal” does not mean, under any circumstance, that men will remain that way.”
I completely agree with this statement. I never tell my kids that all people are created equal, because it’s just not true. Instead, I tell them that God made us all different from each other…. and that’s okay. I try to point out specific examples in their lives (friends/reletives etc) who are remarkably good at certain things while another friend has a different talent. I do engange in alot of inspirational quote “mumbo jumbo” and have several inspirational plaques in our home as they have helped me thru some tough spots in my own life. But I always, ALWAYS preface them with the importance of hard work, determination, natural talent, and making good choices.
I grew up the daughter of a coal miner in the Applachian belt and my parents, although amazing parents in many ways, did not believe the value of being “inspired”. I was pretty much raised, you put your nose to the girndstone whether you enjoy it or not, you work harder and work longer than anyone else, and keep your head down. So work hard was pretty much the only philosphy I grew up with… and it did end up benefiting me because when I did apply for my “dream job”, I was told that I was far above the competition with full time work experience, multiple internships, and a full course load.
For me, where the inspiration part came in is when someone that I respected, a professor, and my first boss told me flat out that I suck and would not make it in my field. I had a really hard time recovering from that because no one had ever told me those silly slogans… “when you get knocked down, get right back up”, or “never back down”, or to “believe in the beauty of your dreams”. I had to discover them on my own. So I will argue that inspiring children with quotes and mantras are very important. They just can’t be the only thing.
Dr. John Trotter
December 29th, 2012
12:11 am
@ Beverly Fraud: I am a little late to this thread, but I just finished reading comments. You are right on target, and don’t grow feint because some claim that they are “tired” of your posts. Perhaps they work for Herb Garrett or GSBA. Ha! Keep pouring it on, brother — or sister. Ha!
Mitch
December 29th, 2012
2:00 pm
Some sayings from my old Dutchy family. “You teacher may not know everything but she knows more than you do:. “Everybody knows something that you do not know”:. “Your job is to learn from everyone” “Do not tell a lie but remember that not every truth needs to be told”. ‘Waste not, want not” Thanks folks.
Lee
December 30th, 2012
5:48 pm
It took three days, but I’m finally out of moderation. In the meantime, BF has posted about 75 times.
Go figure…
Maureen Downey
December 31st, 2012
9:54 am
@Lee, On vacation last week and on the road without Internet. Sorry for the delay.
Maureen
Ole Guy
January 2nd, 2013
5:09 pm
WIN IN RVN, OCS, 1968, Benning School for Boys
We saw where that slogan went. Whether within the (relative) innocense of the classroom, or within the harsh realities of the world, these slogans, as a whole, serve little purpose and, in fact, may serve to undermine the reason de etre of the slogan.
In politics, we see much “sloganeering” which, contrary to the intended effect, often works against the message. Likewise with the deluge of advertisements we are bombarded with daily; slogans which are aimed at those “less-capable” (in terms of exercising that lost artform of critical thought).
So to goes the educational slogans which, quite frankly, either serve to insult the integrity of those who know why they are in the classroom or provide the “less-capable” targets toward which they just might direct their efforts, only to become false targets of “non-accomplishment”, such as the multitude of touchy feely degrees which, long with a dollar or two, just might get the bearor a cup of cofffee.
Slogans aside, the ONLY way the kid will succeed is to WANT to succeeed…and that, children, only comes from within; not some frilly slogans.