Self-Esteem and Relevance
March 22nd, 2008 Posted in UncategorizedHow important is it for us to make English learning as real-world as possible? Should we focus more on developing ways to get a higher TOEIC score instead? I came across this article which brings up an interesting point about how unimportant it may be for us to keep trying to make our lessons more relevant.
A quote from: For Math Students, Self-Esteem Might Not Equal High Scores
U.S. Lags Behind Countries That Don’t Emphasize Self-Regard
By Jay Mathews
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 18, 2006; Page A02
…But the Brookings Institution is reporting today that countries such as the United States that embrace self-esteem, joy and real-world relevance in learning mathematics are lagging behind others that don’t promote all that self-regard.
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In Japan, the report found, 14 percent of math teachers surveyed said they aim to connect lessons to students’ lives, compared with 66 percent of U.S. math teachers. Yet the U.S. scores in eighth-grade math trail those of the Japanese, raising similar questions about the importance of practical relevance.