Does Actually Getting It Right Even Matter Any More?
Character education has focused on building a student's self esteem, primarily by never criticizing or even critiquing what they do. Everything is good. Just making the effort is good. Actual success in what they are doing is secondary. We have raised a generation of kids who think everything they do, no matter how lame, trite, cliched or even inaccurate is good. They have little or no experience with someone pointing out these flaws because the system graded them with a happy purple pen and extended them multiple tries to "get it right" in a skewed view that this was education. We are now seeing the quality of what this generation produces. I think we need to bring back the red pen.
The movie "American Teacher" is making the rounds in many cities, usually for a one night showing. The movie is about The Equity Project, TEP, a
