Re: What's in a name?

[Amado Narvaez <anarvaez@umd5.umd.edu>]

On Fri, 15 Aug 1997 Dinogeorge@aol.com wrote:
 
> Some people imagine that this process lowers the children's self-esteem, and
> we all know that having self-esteem is >far< more important than knowing
> anything...

Reading between the lines, one might think that DinoGeorge believes that
promoting self-esteem contributes to lower SAT scores. A good teacher can
promote good self-esteem and still prepare students for any career from
film-making to astrophysics. Knowledge and self-esteem are not mutually
exclusive. If we took all of the students out of our schools who don't
want to be there (as happens in some cultures), then no doubt the SAT
scores would go up. The crime rate would probably go up, too, but that's
beside the point.

I still think that if you made an accounting of the contributions made by
different nations to the knowledge-base of any field of endeavor, from
film-making to paleontology, a respectable per cent would be from people
who are products of the U.S. education system. 

I now recommend that you all go out and purchase "Mr. Holland's Opus" and
place it right next to your copies of "Jurassic Park." (Maybe get
"Good-bye, Mr. Chips" while you're at it.)

----- Amado Narvaez